Central Asia-Center (CAC) gas pipeline is being considered for potential gas supplies from Russia to Uzbekistan, stated Minister of Energy Zhurabek Mirzamakhmudov on the sidelines of the Tashkent Investment Forum on April 27.
According to him, the Bukhara-Ural gas pipeline running from Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan to Russia is not suitable because of its poor condition.
For this reason, the CAC gas pipeline, passing from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to Russia is being considered. The parties are currently assessing the costs required for the installation and repair of compressor stations in order to supply gas in reverse order.
“First, let's evaluate the costs. Pricing will be formed based on the costs. And after that we will discuss deliveries,” the minister said.
At the end of November 2022, it became known that Russia offered Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to create a "tripartite gas union". The Russian authorities stated that the proposal did not imply the supply of gas in exchange for some political demands, but it is about the agreeing the commercial interests.
Energy Minister Zhurabek Mirzamakhmudov in December, amid the energy crisis that began in Uzbekistan with the onset of cold weather, said that Uzbekistan was negotiating to import gas from its neighbors - as part of a commercial contract, and not through "some kind of alliance or union."
In January, the Ministries of Energy of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed a roadmap for cooperation in the gas industry with Russia's Gazprom.
In March, TASS, citing a report by the Russian Energy Development Center, reported that Gazprom could increase gas supplies to China in transit through Central Asia to 20 BCM per year.
“We expect that by the end of this year, Gazprom will be able to agree on the supply of up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, of which 4-6 billion cubic meters will be transit gas for China. In our opinion, updating the infrastructure of the Central Asia-Center gas pipeline to supply 20-25 BCM of gas annually through it may take about another year,” the report says.
