BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 13. Kazakhstan is likely to renegotiate the terms of the gas export deal with China in 2023, potentially for another 5 years, a source at Wood Mackenzie told Trend.
According to the UK-based research company, under the existing deal, Kazakhstan agreed to supply 10 billion cubic meters of gas to China. The increase in domestic consumption prevented Kazakhstan from fulfilling its commitment.
Wood Mackenzie considers the China deal to be strategically important for Kazakhstan to drop entirely, therefore the Central Asian nation is expected to renegotiate and bring supplies down to 5 billion cubic meters per annum.
Previously, China said it hopes that Kazakhstan would be able to keep up with its gas export commitments, especially during the winter months, despite Astana having pledged to prioritize domestic demand.