Page 22 - Small Stans Outlook 2024

6.2 Energy & power - Tajikistan
The Rogun mega project predominates in Tajikistan’s energy
development planning (see Infrastructure section above).
In motor fuels, it was clear by late 2023 that a ban on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exports by Kazakhstan has caused substantial fuel shortages in neighbouring Tajikistan, which in turn has led to increases in food prices amid rising transport costs.
The Kazakh government introduced its three-year export ban in mid-October in order to avoid shortages of its own. Tajikistan has a near total reliance on imports to cover LPG fuel demand. The country primarily sources its petroleum products from Russia, but in the case of LPG alone, around three-quarters came from Kazakhstan in the first half of 2023.
Tajikistan’s Anti-Monopoly Service ordered importers to work out alternative options for securing LPG supply.
More than a decade ago, Tajikistan opened its own refinery – a 8,000 barrel per day (bpd) plant financed by China in the Danghara. But the facility remains closed, as Tajikistan has not been able to secure oil. Part of the issue is that the logical candidates to supply the crude would be Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. But these countries have made more money exporting ready-to-use fuels to Tajikistan instead.
6.3 Energy & power - Turkmenistan
During December's COP28 climate crisis summit in Dubai, President Berdimuhamedov announced that the Turkmens will join the world effort to seal “super-emitter” sites from which methane pours into the atmosphere (see Politics section above). The greenhouse gas leaks from the remote Central Asian nation at an alarming rate. Top diplomats of the US put in a major lobbying effort to persuade Turkmenistan to join the Global Methane Pledge. The task now is to ensure enough action follows grand words.
Turkmenistan is China's biggest pipeline gas supplier. It sent China 34.09bn cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas via the Central Asia Gas Pipeline (CAGP) in 2022, accounting for 54% of China's total pipeline gas imports, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.
CAGP has three strands, but Turkmenistan plans to open a fourth, Line D, and there is a growing expectation in the gas industry that the construction of the line will be accelerated this year.
22 Small Stans 2023
www.intellinews.com