Page 23 - Small Stans Outlook 2024

As part of the push to realise Line D, China’s CNPC has asked for the Turkmenistan gas contract price to be lower than the CAGP-landed price for gas from Kazakhstan because CNPC has been investing in Turkmenistan's upstream gas fields, but Turkmenistan has not agreed, according to industry sources cited by S&P in December.
"[Chinese] President Xi [Jinping] has already called for accelerating the construction of Line D. I think both sides will reach a consensus for the contract soon—either we will make concession or they [Turkmenistan] will do that. Afterall, the project must be done finally," a senior CNPC official was quoted as saying.
Russia is also looking to supply gas to China via CAGP infrastructure that goes through Kazakhstan, but Beijing and Moscow are yet to agree on gas supply prices. Turkmenistan is keeping a wary eye on the competition.
Given its over-dependence on China as a gas export market, Turkmenistan is also looking to strike deals to supply more gas to parts of northern Iran (which are still poorly served by Iranian gas infrastructure), Iraq (via gas swap arrangements with Tehran) and—conceivably, if a long-discussed pipeline link across the Caspian Sea can be realised—to Turkey, for further distribution to Europe.
In a move linked to Turkmenistan’s new commitment to curb and contain methane gas emissions, Emirati company Dragon Oil announced in late November that it will transition to zero gas flaring in Turkmenistan by 2027.
Dragon Oil’s primary focus in the country is hydrocarbon production in the Cheleken contract area in the Caspian Sea. Its total investment in this project has exceeded $8bn.
The company, wholly owned by the Dubai government, opened its largest regional office outside the UAE in Ashgabat in late December.
7.0 Central Asia’s water crisis
7.1 Central Asia’s water crisis
The data can no longer be ignored. Central Asia’s population is expanding while its water resources are shrinking at a worrying rate amid the climate emergency. Demand and supply no longer add up.
It is the Taliban’s construction of the Qosh Tepa mega canal in Afghanistan that has finally prompted officials in Central Asia to treat the matter with extra urgency. The canal will draw water from the Amu Darya river, meaning Afghanistan will join neighbours Uzbekistan,
23 Small Stans 2023
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