China, Turkmenistan agree to boost planned gas sales
August 29th, 2008 | by admin |ASHGABAT, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Turkmenistan will sell 40billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas a year to Chinathrough a planned pipeline instead of the previously agreed 30bcm, the leaders of the two countries said on Friday.
The link, being built by China, Turkmenistan and its CentralAsian neighbours Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, will have totalannual capacity of 40 bcm. Kazakhstan has said it will reserve10 bcm for its own needs.
Visiting Chinese leader Hu Jintao met Turkmen PresidentKurbanguly Berdymukhamedov on Friday. Earlier this month,Berdymukhamedov offered to boost the planned sales volumethrough the link which is due to be completed in late 2009.
“The volume of shipments to China will be 40 billion cubicmetres, not 30 billion cubic metres as planned earlier,”Berdymukhamedov said after the meeting.
The two leaders did not say how this would affectKazakhstan’s plans to use some of the pipeline capacity.
“We will speed up the work on the pipeline,” said Hu.
Turkmenistan currently sells most of its gas, about 50 bcm ayear, to Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and analysts have questionedits ability to boost exports significantly.
Russia, keen to maintain control over Central Asian gasflows, has offered to buy Turkmen gas at the European price nextyear and build a new pipeline along the Caspian to take in moreTurkmen gas.
A group of Russian officials was in Ashgabat on the same daypreparing for Saturday’s session of a bilateral economiccooperation commission.
Turkmenistan earlier estimated its reserves at more than 20trillion cubic metres (tcm), while BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) put them at 2.9 tcmin its annual statistical review. (Reporting by Marat Gurt; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov)
