Page 8 - FSUOGM Week 02 2022

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM

Uzbekistan temporarily halts gas exports

“to meet domestic needs”

UZBEKISTAN UZBEKISTAN has temporarily suspended 2020, the country suspended the export of natu-
exports of natural gas in order to meet domestic ral gas to Russia, and Uzbekistan solely became
Uzbekistan wants to energy needs, Interfax reported on January 6. an importer of Russian gas.
use more of its gas The announcement was made as neighbour- At the same time, gas exports to China have
reserves domestically. ing Kazakhstan dealt with several days of social grown. According to the Customs Department
unrest that was sparked by a sudden hike in the of the People’s Republic of China, 3.27 bcm of
price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), used as a natural gas were delivered in 2020, and 4.02 bcm
vehicle fuel by many Kazakhs. in the first 10 months of 2021.
“For now, exports of gas have been completely According to BP statistics, gas production in
halted and all the volumes are being directed Uzbekistan decreased by 18% in 2020. Some 57.3
towards domestic use, particularly to meet the bcm were produced in 2019, while a year later
population’s needs,” Uzbekistan’s energy minis- the volume dipped to 47 bcm. At the same time,
try was quoted as saying. consumption fell by only 3.4% — from 44.4 bcm
The ministry also said that there were no to 43 bcm.
ongoing exports of gas to Russia and no export At the opening of the Uzbekistan gas-to-liq-
plans for 2022. uids plant, named UZGTL, at the end of 2021,
According to Gazprom, in 2018 Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that instead
sold 3.8bn cubic metres (bcm) of gas to Russia of selling gas abroad, gas would be processed
and increased the volume to 4.9 bcm in 2019. In locally “so that the people would benefit.” ™

Taliban-led Afghan govt intends to

sign TAPI agreements

AFGHANISTAN THE remaining 7 agreements on the TAPI of the gas pipeline.
(Turkmenistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan - India) Afghanistan is expected to receive $500
The Taliban expressed gas pipeline project will be concluded soon, the million annually from this project as part of its
support for the project Afghan TV channel Tolo News reported, citing income share from the work.
even before they the leadership of the Foreign Ministry of the Tal- Taliban finance ministry spokesman
replaced the former iban interim government on January 11. Abdollah Hakmal confirmed the ministry’s
government. For implementing the TAPI project, the readiness to allocate funds for the TAPI pro-
Afghans planned to sign 16 agreements, 9 of ject and other development projects in the
which were concluded before the fall of the pre- current fiscal year.
vious Afghan government. The Taliban, mean- Earlier it was reported that the Taliban will
while conscious of the country’s bankrupt state form a special unit to protect the TAPI gas pipe-
and locked assets, is desperate to honour any line from insurgent bombs from the Islamic
deal which can accrue its income. State, who replaced the Taliban as the biggest
Funds for implementing the project will be threat to the country when the Sunni Islamic
allocated from the budget of Afghanistan in the group swept to power in August 2020.
current fiscal year, which will allow the Taliban Taliban officials have repeatedly stated that
government to contribute the Afghan share at they attach particular importance to this project
the expense of a foreign loan. and intend to ensure its implementation.
Taliban Foreign Ministry Strategic Research The TAPI project with Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Director Valliolah Shahin said that there is an India and Turkmenistan has been under way
agreement with Turkmenistan to provide a loan since 2015 and so far cost $10bn.
to Afghanistan to pay the fee. The pipeline is intended to connect the ener-
The borrowed funds are planned to be gy-rich Central Asia with the energy- starved
returned from future income from the operation countries of South Asia. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 02 12•January•2022