Page 7 - FSUOGM Week 24 2021

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM

Turkmenistan settles

Chinese gas debts

TURKMENISTAN TURKMENISTAN has reportedly settled the bank had lent Turkmenistan $8.1bn for the two
Chinese debts it accrued to develop its natural projects. Past reports suggest Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan started gas industry, state-run media claimed on June repaid the loan in part through natural gas sales.
supplying gas to China 13. The first of CAGP’s three strings was brought
in 2009. China has invested billions of dollars in Turk- on stream in 2009, following by the second in
menistan’s natural gas industry over the years, in 2010 and the third in 2014. The pipeline’s launch
order to obtain relatively cheap, pipeline gas to marked a turning point for Turkmenistan, which
complement its growing LNG imports. Turk- until then had relied only on Russia for its gas
men gas is delivered from the Bagtyarlyk area export revenues. In addition to Turkmen gas,
operated by China’s CNPC and the Galkynysh the 55 bcm per year CAGP also handles supplies
field controlled by Turkmenistan’s state-owned from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The construc-
Turkmengaz to the northwestern Chinese prov- tion of a fourth 30 bcm per year string has been
ince of Xinjiang via the Central Asia – China Gas discussed for years, but has only seen limited
Pipeline (CAGP) network. Volumes typically progress.
come to over 30bn cubic metres (bcm) per year. In other news, Russia’s Gazprom bought
According to the government-run Neutral $1bn of gas from Turkmenistan in 2020, Alex-
Turkmenistan newspaper, Turkmen President ander Blokhin, the Russian ambassador to the
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that Turk- Central Asian nation, said at a briefing on June
menistan had paid off loads provided by China 11. Gazprom resumed Turkmen gas purchases
for CAGP’s construction and the first phase in late 2019, after pausing them three years ear-
of development at Galkynysh “on time and in lier because of a dispute with Turkmengaz over
full.” The same report cited Turkmen oil and gas prices and debts.
chief Shakhym Abdurakhmanov as saying that When shipments were resumed, Gazprom
the China Development Bank (CDB) had con- said it would initially buy 5.5 bcm of Turkmen
firmed full repayment in a notice sent on June 8. gas annually. It is likely that it bought signifi-
Neither Berdymukhamedov nor Abdura- cantly less last year, however, given the slump in
khmanov divulged how much had been the Russian company’s gas sales in Europe and
paid back to China, although in 2011, CDB’s Russia as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-
then-president Jiang Chaoliang said the Chinese 19) pandemic. ™

Week 24 16•June•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7