Uzbekistan has resumed gas exports to China, which were suspended at the beginning of the year to meet domestic demand. The government has not announced a resumption of supplies, but Chinese media report that Tashkent has resumed exporting gas via the Central Asia-China pipeline starting in Turkmenistan and passing through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
China's customs department said that Uzbekistan exported $132.8 million worth of gas to China in the first four months of this year.
Between January and April, Turkmenistan was the largest supplier of pipeline gas to China, supplying $2.87 billion worth of gas. The cost of gas supplied from Kazakhstan topped $270.6 million. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in terms of pipeline gas exports to China.
Both countries have said they plan to stop gas exports in the coming years to meet rising domestic demand. Tashkent had plans to stop exports by 2025. This will allow the released gas to be used to generate additional electricity to overcome the power shortages that occur in Uzbekistan every winter.
Gas supplies to power plants have increased by 13 percent and households by 30 percent over the past three years, according to official data released this month.
The government announced that the current system of subsidies for private consumers will be reformed so that prices will be subsidized only up to a certain amount of gas consumed. Consumers who have exceeded this limit, the value of which has not yet been announced, will pay for the consumed gas at market prices.
The additional gas that will be made available after exports are cut off will also be used to produce high value-added products such as plastics that are more profitable than selling raw materials.
Uzbekistan has already begun to reduce the volume of exports, which go almost entirely to China, in preparation for its gradual cessation. The government said on May 18 that Tashkent plans to export 3.3 billion cubic meters of gas this year, up from 12.2 billion cubic meters in 2019.
