OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2011. Ceremony of launch of construction of the third line of Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline was held after two years from commissioning of the first line of Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China and compressor station No. 1, which located in Uzbekistan.

Ceremony of launch of construction of the third line of Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline was held after two years from commissioning of the first line of Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China and compressor station No. 1, which located in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekneftegaz national holding company said that that a delegation of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) led by its Vice President Wang Dongjin and management of Uzbekneftegaz and its divisions participated at the event.

Launch of the third line will allow exporting gas from fields in Uzbekistan to China. The participants noted that this will serve for further strengthening of bilateral relations between Uzbekistan and China.

The project will help to create new jobs. About 3,000 people will be attracted to construction process. At launch of gas pipeline and compressor station, dispatcher points, gas metering centers, some 600 specialists will be provided with jobs.

Uzbekneftegaz said that the signing of bilateral documents were important part of the project launch. It said that the sides amend intergovernmental agreement “On principles of construction and exploitation of Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline, signed agreement on main terms of gas purchase between Uzbekneftegaz and CNPC and on base of these, Uztransgaz and PetroChina International Company Limited inked agreement on Uzbek gas supplies in October 2011.

Construction of the third Uzbek part of the gas pipeline with the extension of 529 km will be completed by 2014. The gas supplies to China through third line, which will have capacity of 25 billion cubic meters of gas a year, can be started from 2014.

The project with the cost of US.2 billion will be financed due to loans of the China Development Bank and direct investments of CNPC.

The participants of the ceremony familiarized with construction works at booster station No. 6, which will compress gas to pressure, necessary to transfer gas to pipeline and compressor station No. 2. The launch of booster station scheduled for the beginning of 2012.

The construction of Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline was started on 30 June 2008. On 15-16 December 2009, the first line of Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline and main compressor station No. 1 were commissioned. The second line of the Uzbek part of gas pipeline has been opened on 20 October 2010.