China gets gasline from CARs

[Spring Onion]

4-nation pipeline inaugurated to bring natural gas to China from Central Asia


4-nation pipeline inaugurated to bring natural gas to China from Central Asia
Saibal Dasgupta, TNN 14 December 2009, 08:00pm ISTText Size:|Topics:China
Natural gas
pipeline
Central Asia

BEIJING: China’s relentless efforts to woo Central Asian countries and build bridges with Muslim nations paid off in a big way as Chinese president Hu Jintao on Monday inaugurated a 1,833 km long four-nation gas pipeline that will bring natural gas to China from Turkmenistan.

The pipeline will enable Turkmenistan gas to flow through central Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan to the Chinese border region of Xinjiang before it is moved further to major user cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Speaking at a function attended by heads of four nations, Hu said the pipeline will also carry goodwill and friendship among the four nations and bring benefits to all of them.

Three of these four countries- Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China-are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. China has played a key role in building SCO as a regional political club and has offered massive financial support to some of its members. (India and Pakistan have observer status in SCO).

At the ceremony, Hu said China wants to develop further coordination with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in order to build the second line of the project besides ensuring safety and efficiency in the operation of the existing one. He called for a long-term, stable, secured and reliable partnership in the field of energy.

The pipeline is also a result of hard work by engineers from the four countries who have set a high standard of safety, efficiency and quality in construction, he said.

"The project has truly realized the balance of interests among energy exporters, transporters and consumers," Turkmen President Berdymukhamedov said in an interview with the Chinese media.


4-nation pipeline inaugurated to bring natural gas to China from Central Asia - International Business - Biz - The Times of India

 

[Spring Onion]

So China can also join IP gasline

 

[grey boy 2]

China bets big on pipelines - People's Daily Online 08:17, December 14, 2009

President Hu Jintao is expected today to announce the opening of a massive natural gas pipeline through Central Asia that will help curb supply shortages.

The 1,833-kilometer line connects Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. One of the two sections of the pipeline has been completed, and the other section will be operational next year.

"With an annual expanded transmission capacity of up to 40 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan, the route will fill the natural-gas gap," Zhang Yao, director of the Russia and Central Asia Research Center at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times.

Hu's announcement is set to come on his last stop on a tour through Central Asia that he started Saturday in Kazakhstan and ends today after two days in Turkmenistan.

With a natural-gas shortage hanging over China, the China- Central Asia gas pipeline will help meet China's surging demand and reflects multilateral interest in regional cooperation, experts said.

The pipeline, starting at the border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, will run through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before reaching China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

It will pump gas to China's second West-East natural gas transmission pipeline project and benefit 14 cities and provinces in the Pearl River Delta region, the Yangtze River Delta and central and western China.

In a statement Sunday, Hu said his current trip is aimed at further promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation in various areas, according to Xinhua.

By 2011, the pipeline will transfer up to 13 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Its capacity could reach 30 billion per year, plus an additional 17 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan purchased by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), one of China's largest oil and gas producer and supplier.

China's gas shortages are expected to grow to 30 billion cubic meters next year, and the figure could reach 40 billion in 2015, the China News Agency reported.


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[aimarraul]

Cross-border pipeline pulls region closer
By Wu Jiao in Saman-Depe and Zhang Jin in Beijing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-15 06:49



China and Central Asia opened a new "Silk Road" yesterday when President Hu Jintao and leaders from three other nations officially opened a natural gas pipeline linking Turkmenistan to China's Xinjiang region.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd L, front), Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov (3rd L, front), Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev (1st L, front) and Uzbek President Islam Karimov (R, front) attend the inauguration ceremony of the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline in the gas plant on the right bank of the Amu Darya River, Turkmenistan, on Dec. 14, 2009. [Xinhua]

The pipeline - the longest in the world - is being seen as a sign of growing trust in Central Asia and should help China hit its goal of cutting carbon emissions, experts said.

Hu helped get the gas flowing by turning a symbolic wheel to open a valve on the pipeline, along with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

The gas will be pumped from Saman-Depe, in eastern Turkmenistan, all the way to China's most westerly region.

Officials cheered and hugged after the four presidents symbolically opened the floodgates in the windswept settlement of Saman-Depe, which was decorated with Chinese and Central Asian flags for the occasion.

"China is positive about our cooperation and the opening of this gas pipeline is another platform for collaboration and cooperation between our friendly nations," Hu said.

The 1,833-km pipeline will snake through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, before entering China at the border pass of Horgos in China's northwest region of Xinjiang.

It will be capable of delivering 40 billion cu m of gas a year, more than half of China's current annual gas consumption, once it reaches full capacity between 2012 and 2013.

China consumed 77.8 billion cu m of gas last year.

Central Asian leaders hailed the project, which will eventually deliver gas to cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, as a sign of new cooperation in the region.

"The pipeline passing through our countries will revive the ancient Silk Road, which was once a conduit for the exchange of goods between Asia and Europe," Berdymukhamedov said. "The successful implementation of this project could become a prototype for all international energy partnerships.

"This pipeline will have a positive impact across the entire region and beyond, and it will become a major contributing factor to security in Asia," he said.

The project is part of Beijing's strategy to reduce its reliance on coal, which currently meets around 70 percent of China's energy needs, said Lin Boqiang, director of Xiamen University's China Center for Energy Economics Research. "The project will definitely improve China's energy mix and eventually help curtail greenhouse gas emissions."

China wants to cut carbon intensity by up to 45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level.

"To live up to its word, China has no choice but to resort to cleaner energy, such as natural gas, and import more to solve the shortage," Lin said.

The gas deal is also good for the Central Asia economy and will help the region recover from the global financial crisis, Lin added.

"Gas suppliers are keen to find stable, profitable export markets and the Chinese market is what they need," he said.

The opening of the new link comes as China and Russia are working on their first cross-border oil pipeline.

The two projects reflect the political will of China and its neighbors to work more closely together, said Yang Shu, director of the Center of Central Asian Studies at Lanzhou University.

"Only partners who trust each other will build such long, cross-border pipelines," he said. "Apparently, the bond between China and these countries is growing."

Improving ties will stabilize the region, which has been targeted by terrorists and separatists, Yang added.

 

[gpit]

UPDATE 2-China tightens Central Asia hold with new gas link

By Marat Gurt

SAMAN-DEPE, Turkmenistan, Dec 14 (Reuters) - China's President Hu Jintao opened a pipeline linking a gas field in Turkmenistan with his country's Xinjiang region on Monday, extending Beijing's reach into Central Asia's natural resources.

The leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan joined Hu at a remote spot near the Turkmen-Uzbek border to commission the 1,833-km (1,139-mile) pipeline that snakes across Central Asia through their countries.

The pipeline, starting near a Chinese-developed gas field in eastern Turkmenistan, is expected to reach full annual capacity of 40 billion cubic metres by 2012-13 and help Beijing propel its explosive economic growth.

In the windswept settlement of Saman-Tepe, festooned with Chinese and Central Asian flags, officials cheered and hugged after the four presidents symbolically turned the pipeline tap, injecting the first gas with a loud humming noise.

A nearby gas plant, its metal chimneys sparkling in the sun, was adorned with huge portraits of Hu and Central Asian leaders.

"We have to join forces at a time when the world is going through a difficult period," Hu said at the ceremony. "I hope we will be not only good neighbours but also reliable partners."

China's foray into Central Asia represents a challenge to Russia which still sees the Muslim region as part of its sphere of influence. It is also a worry for Europe, which sees the energy-rich region as an alternative new supplier of gas.

Lying on some of the world's biggest oil, gas and metals reserves, Central Asia is at the centre of a geopolitical tug-of-war between Russia, China and the West, all seeking to grab a share of its untapped riches. [ID:nLDE5BD04Y]

The pipeline -- which runs through China's restive Xinjiang region -- is a success for China since it is Central Asia's biggest export route that reaches markets outside Russia, bypassing its territory.

The West has watched with unease as years of quiet diplomatic maneuvering have helped China step up its presence in the region by handing out billions of dollars in loans, snapping up energy assets and building an oil pipeline from Kazakhstan.

In the aftermath of the Soviet collapse in the 1990s, Western oil firms were quick to grab the lion's share of assets in the region, particularly in oil-rich Kazakhstan. But expansion has slowed as China became more active in past years.

On a visit to neighbouring Kazakhstan, Robert Blake, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, was diplomatic when asked about Washington's stance on the pipeline.

"The United States has always supported multiple pipelines to export oil and gas from Central Asia," he said. "We recognise that China has big interest in the region and growing energy demand."


WELCOME CHINA

Russia ruled Central Asia, a thinly populated region of steppes and mountains, for centuries, first during tsarist-era conquests and later under 70 years of Soviet dominance.

After the Soviet fall, Central Asia's mineral riches and strategic proximity to Afghanistan and Iran prompted the West and China to seek closer ties there.

Hu's visit acted as a rare unifying force for Central Asian leaders who, ridden by internal rivalries and rows over cross-border use of natural resources, rarely assemble to discuss regional cooperation.

They have in the past tentatively attended Russia-dominated regional summits, but their willingness to travel to a remote location underscores the extent to which they want closer ties with their giant eastern neighbour.

"This project has not only commercial or economic value. It is also political," Turkmenistan's President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov told Hu on Sunday. "China, through its wise and farsighted policy has become one of the key guarantors of global security."

Uzbek President Islam Karimov praised China's role.

"It is not a secret to anyone that China's financial and economic might is a key precondition for success," he said.

Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) stopped buying Turkmen gas in April after a pipeline explosion sparked a broader diplomatic row over gas. The move has cost Turkmenistan about $1 billion a month and prompted it to form closer links with other nations.

As diplomacy heats up, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is also due to travel to Turkmenistan this month for energy talks. (Writing by Maria Golovnina; Additional reporting by Olzhas Auyezov in Kazakhstan; Editing by Anthony Barker)

UPDATE 2-China tightens Central Asia hold with new gas link | Reuters

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While Russia has proven itself to the world an unreliable and self-interested partner, China’s "One stone kills two birds", i.e. politically and economically, will surely bring peace and prosperity to the region.

The third unspoken “bird”, which may be injured if not killed, is that Russia’s influence in the region will be unavoidably further weakened.

It is indeed a wise move on China side.

In addition, the US seems to recognize China’s stake in the resource rich area.