Turkmenistan increased natural gas supplies to China to 2.9 billion cubic meters in March 2023, reaching the maximum levels of 2022, the Finmarket reports, citing data from the Chinese Customs Administration.

In January this year, supplies decreased to 2.2 billion cubic meters and grew to 2.4 billion cubic meters in February.

In value terms, the export of pipeline gas to China from Turkmenistan surged by 18.9% in January-April 2023, to $3.41 billion, overtaking another traditional supplier – Russia.

In general, the source notes that exporters from Central Asia restore the natural gas exports via pipelines to China as the heating season ends.

Kazakhstan exported 380 million cubic meters to China in March and supplies could potentially grow by another 100 million cubic meters per month.

Uzbekistan resumed gas exports after three months of a complete shutdown and in March delivered 140 million cubic meters to China with the potential increase of supplies by more than four times.

China receives pipeline gas from Russia, Myanmar and three Central Asian countries – Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

During the first face-to-face China-Central Asia summit in Xi’an, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke in favor of expanding energy cooperation with the region.

In particular, he proposed to expedite the construction of Line D of the China-Central Asia Gas Pipeline, and expand oil-gas trade.

The energy sector is one of the priorities of China’s cooperation with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Special attention was also paid to the safe and uninterrupted operation of the China-Central Asia gas pipeline during Xi’s talks with the leaders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, who paid state visits to China in parallel with their participation in the Xi’an summit.