The Kazakh company QazaGaz is ready to invest in the modernization of Kazakhstan's gas transportation system to ensure transit of up to 11 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year to Uzbekistan, said the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan, Almasadam Satkaliyev, Kursiv.kz reports.
"Such plans exist. Currently, transit of 3.8 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Uzbekistan is already planned. To increase it to 11 billion cubic meters, the modernization of the gas transportation system is planned, and Qazaq Gaz is ready to make the investments. The project is beneficial for Kazakhstan due to the revenue from transit and parity," he told journalists in response to a relevant question.
Additionally, the minister clarified that the Kazakh side always negotiates to ensure that domestic consumers also have the opportunity to receive the required volumes of gas passing through the country's territory.
In April, Satkaliyev reported that Uzbekistan is increasing its consumption of Russian gas, which is supplied to the country through transit via Kazakhstan.
"The growth in transit volumes of Russian gas through Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan depends on the requests of our Uzbek colleagues. Currently, they are slightly exceeding the initially declared plan, and we are registering an increase in demand for Russian gas in Uzbekistan. I cannot provide exact figures yet," he told journalists.
The heads of Gazprom and QazaqGaz, Alexey Miller and Sanzhar Zharkeshov, signed a contract on June 16, 2023, in St. Petersburg for the provision of services for the transportation of Russian natural gas in transit through Kazakhstan to consumers in Uzbekistan. Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev told journalists last August that the transit through Kazakhstan could range from 1.5 to 10 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year.
Gas deliveries via this route began in October 2023. The transit was indicated at up to 9 million cubic meters per day, or about 3.3 billion cubic meters per year maximum (officially stated as 2.8-3 billion cubic meters). Deliveries were organized in a reverse mode along a specially designated route based on the Central Asia-Center gas pipeline system, through which gas from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan was supplied to the European part of the USSR during the Soviet era. Gazprom stated that the project is of great social significance for Uzbekistan, reliably meeting the republic's gas needs, which is used for heat and electricity generation, especially during the autumn-winter period.
It was later reported that there are plans to increase Russian gas supplies through Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan from 2026 to 32 million cubic meters per day (11.7 billion cubic meters per year), or nearly four times the current level. Uzbekistan planned to modernize its gas pipeline system for this purpose, investing $500 million. Uzbekistan exported gas to Russia during the Soviet period and until 2019. In 2019, Uzbekistan supplied 4.9 billion cubic meters of gas to Russia. However, starting from 2020, Uzbekistan no longer exports gas to Russia. Meanwhile, it has been gradually reducing gas exports to China due to the increase in domestic fuel consumption.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
May 28, 2024