Date of construction of Uzbek section of gas pipeline to China announced

Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Feb.28 By Demir Azizov– Trend: Construction of the Uzbek section of the fourth line of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline will begin in mid-2015, a source close to the project told Trend. The source said that at present, a basic technical project with an estimated cost of $ 800 million has been developed. The length of the line, which will connect the existing gas pipeline infrastructure in Uzbekistan with the site in Tajikistan which is already under construction, will be about 200 kilometers. In general, the fourth line of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline with a total length of about 1,000 kilometers will pass through five countries - Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and China and will increase its aggregate throughput capacity to 85 billion cubic meters. In 2013, Uzbekistan and China signed an agreement on the construction and operation of the pipeline Uzbekistan-China with the capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which will pass along the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan-China route. In 2014, Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company (NHC) and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed an agreement to create a joint venture for the construction and operation of the pipeline to be held along the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan-China route. The need to create a second joint venture is related to the financing of projects. Asia Trans Gas JV, created by Uzbekneftegaz and CNPC for the construction and operation of the "Central Asia-China" pipeline passing along the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China route currently operate in Uzbekistan. In late 2014, Asia Trans Gas JV completed construction of the third branch of the gas pipeline running to China worth $2.2 billion. The length of the third branch of the Uzbek section is 530 kilometers, while its design capacity is equal to 25 billion cubic meters of gas per year. It is expected that the third branch will be filled with gas in Q1 of 2015. The first branch of the gas pipeline was commissioned in December 2009 and the construction of the second branch of the gas pipeline was completed in 2010. The total capacity of the two branches is 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The construction of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline started in 2008. Its total length nears 7,000 kilometers, while the pipe’s diameter equals 1,067 millimeters. Edited by CN Follow us on Twitter @TRENDNewsAgency