OREANDA-NEWS. September 16, 2013. In Ashgabat, witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, CNPC Chairman Zhou Jiping and Turkmengaz Chairman Kakageldi Abdyllayev inked an additional 25 bcm/a gas sales & purchase agreement and an EPC contract on the Galkynysh gas field for 30 bcm/a gas production capacity building, on behalf of CNPC and Turkmengaz State Concern respectively. In addition, China Development Bank signed an agreement of financing cooperation with Turkmengaz State Concern as well.

In 2007, CNPC and Turkmengaz signed agreements on gas cooperation, which stepped forward closer energy cooperation between China and Turkmenistan. CNPC has undertaken the construction of Amu Darya natural gas project and the Central Asia-China Gas Pipelin. The two sides have signed agreements for exporting 40 bcm of natural gas annually to China. Turkmenistan began to deliver natural gas to China on December 14, 2009 and had exported 44 bcm of natural gas cumulatively by the end of 2012. The construction of Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline line C is expected to be completed at the end of 2013 and the route design of line D is underway.

Under the newly signed EPC contract, CNPC will undertake the drilling, design, procurement and construction of phase-II surface engineering in Galkynysh gas field, whose gas production capacity is expected to be boosted to 30 bcm/a at the end of 2018. Turkmenistan will gradually increase gas export to China, which is expected to reach 65 bcm a year by 2020.