Demir Azizov
Trend - 4 March 2017
Uzbekistan postponed construction of the fourth leg of a gas pipeline running to China for an indefinite term, the national holding company Uzbekneftegaz told Trend March 3. "The project was delayed by agreement with the Chinese side," an official with the company said, not specifying the reason for this decision. "We did not abandon the project but a decision on it will most likely be made in 2017," said the company official. The start of construction of the fourth leg of the gas pipeline was repeatedly put off – initially, the construction was planned to be started in 2015 but then it was postponed to 2016. The change in plans was explained by a delay in preparation of the project feasibility study and creation of an operating company. The Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline is a part of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline running through the territory of Uzbekistan. An agreement to construct and operate the gas pipeline with a capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year was signed between Uzbekistan and China in 2013. The project’s operator on the Uzbek section of the pipeline is the Uzbekistan-China joint venture Asia Trans Gas LLC, created by Uzbekneftegaz and CNPC. Asia Trans Gas LLC has constructed three legs of the pipeline running through Uzbekistan. Currently, the total length of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline is about 7,000 kilometers and the capacity of its three legs is 55 billion cubic meters of gas.
