Chinese Name: 中亚天然气管道 A、B、C 线
Name: Central Asia–China Gas Pipeline (Line A, Line B, and Line C)
Location: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and China
Type of Project: Energy
Project Developer(s): Trans Asia Gas Pipeline Company (later merged into Sino-Pipeline International Company Limited, subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation)
Main Contractor(s): China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co., Ltd. (subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation); China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation (subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation)
Known Financiers: China Development Bank
Cost: 14-20 billion USD
Project Status: Operational (Line A has been operational since 2009; Line B since 2010; and Line C since 2014)
Since the mid-2000s, when China’s gas consumption exceeded the country’s production capacity, Beijing has been actively searching for potential sources of gas supply. Central Asian gas was seen as a good option to mitigate the risks related to dependence from liquefied natural gas from the Middle East. Geopolitical considerations aside, the Central Asia–China Gas Pipeline network has not only enhanced China’s ability to meet its growing energy needs, but also reduced the country’s excessive reliance on environmentally damaging coal. Since the beginning of its operations in 2009 and as of the end of 2020, the network has delivered a total of 336 billion cubic metres of gas to China.
The Soviet-era gas pipeline infrastructure made Central Asian gas exporters entirely dependent on Russia as the sole buyer and transit country. With the Russian authorities using their position of power as leverage against the region’s gas producers by applying a discriminatory pricing policy and then reexporting Central Asian gas for twice or three times as much, Central Asian countries were counting on the Central Asia–China Gas Pipeline to reduce their dependence on their northern neighbour and improve their bargaining power vis-à-vis potential customers.
The three lines of the Central Asia–China Gas Pipeline start at the city of Gedaim, on the border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and run through central Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan before reaching Horgos in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The 1,830-kilometre-long pipelines then connect to China’s Second West-East Gas Pipeline, further carrying Central Asian gas for another 8,704 km inside the country. Construction of Line A and Line B commenced in July 2008, with the former beginning to operate in December 2009 and the latter in October 2010. The construction of Line C was completed in 2014. The first two lines are designed to transport 30 billion cubic metres per year, while Line C has the capacity to deliver 25 billion cubic metres per year.
In 2007, the national gas company Turkmengaz signed a production sharing agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to develop the right bank Amudarya gas field. CNPC also agreed to purchase up to 30 billion cubic metresof gas per year for 30 years. The terms of the agreement granted CNPC exclusive rights to explore and extract onshore gas fields in Turkmenistan.A subsequent framework agreement signed in 2008 increased the volume to 40 billion cubic metres per year to be reached by 2015. During the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Summit in Beijing in June 2012, the presidents of the two countries, Hu Jintao and Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, agreed to increase the annual volume of gas exports up to 65 billion cubic metres. Lines A and B are exclusively dedicated to importing gas from Turkmenistan. Line C is supplied with 10, 10, and 5 billion cubic metres of natural gasper year respectively from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.
To construct the three lines, the developer Trans Asia Gas Pipeline Company formed 50/50 joint ventures with Kazakhstan’s KazTransGas and Uzbekistan’s Uzbekneftegaz (both state-owned enterprises), with each company responsible for the financing, construction, and operation of the pipelines within its country. The cost for Lines A and B was originally estimated at 7.3 billion USD in total, and 2.2 billion USD for Line C. Media reports from 2009 estimated that the total cost of the projects could reach 20 billion USD. But according to a 2017 interview with a Chinese official with the China-Kazakhstan joint venture company, the total investment for all three lines amounted to over 14 billion USD. Other sources have given even higher estimates. China’s CNPC covered half of the cost as its own share, while a China Development Bank-led syndicate provided loans to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan for the remaining 50% of the share, which would be recouped through gas sales.
CNPC officials portray the Central Asia–China Gas Pipeline as a symbol of solidarity and mutually beneficial cooperation. China counts on Central Asian gas to enhance its energy security, while revenues from exporting resources are expected to boost socioeconomic development in the region. Some issues, however, complicate the picture.
Our content is published under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Map based on OpenStreetMap developed by QualityFind. Illustrations | Anna Formilan. Logo | Krea.
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