BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 26
By Amina Nazarli - Trend:
Turkmenistan is ready to increase natural gas supplies to China, said President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Trend reports citing Turkmenportal.
He made the statement during the virtual summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Central Asian countries held on January 25.
"Turkmenistan is ready for a substantive discussion of increasing the supply of Turkmen gas to China through the construction of the fourth pipeline," Berdimuhamedov said.
The president emphasized that the Central Asian region, particularly Turkmenistan, has a strong resource base, which opens up many opportunities for economic cooperation, including in the fuel and energy sectors.
Its flagship Berdimuhamedov called the main gas pipeline Turkmenistan-China put into operation in 2009, passing through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The president noted that "the implementation of this project is an example of true partnership," stressing that "we need to move forward along the path of expanding and building up our energy partnership."
The previous three branches of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline include three parallel branches (A, B, and C) and run along the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China route. Turkmenistan supplies the majority of China's gas supplies, which range from 35 to 40 billion cubic meters per year. Natural gas is delivered to 25 Chinese provinces and Hong Kong. Since the start of operation of this gas pipeline, over 320 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas have been exported to China.
Turkmen natural gas supply to China should increase to 65 billion cubic meters per year once the fourth branch of the gas pipeline is operational in accordance with previous agreements.
The fourth line will be built from Turkmenistan's border to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. It is intended to supply gas to China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region's southern and central regions. The $6.7 billion project spans approximately 1,000 kilometers and has a capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year.