Gas pipeline project to China via Kazakhstan now underway - Novak

MOSCOW. Dec 25 (Interfax) - The project to build a gas pipeline project from Russia to China via Kazakhstan is underway, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"A new project that is being considered today, proposed by Russia together with our Kazakh friends. This is a project to build a gas pipeline infrastructure with capacity for 45 billion cubic meters per year, 10 bcm of it for the gasification of the northeastern regions of Kazakhstan, and 35 bcm for export to China. This process, so to speak, is underway. Estimates, the feasibility study and negotiations are now underway," he said.

Kazakhstan's government and Russia's Gazprom signed an agreement on strategic cooperation on November 1, 2023 to develop cooperation in the supply, transportation and processing of natural gas, as well as geological exploration and production.

The Kazakh authorities are considering several gasification options for the north and east of the country. The first is the construction of the second and third stages of the Saryarka gas pipeline. The second option would send in Russian gas by building a gas pipeline from Russia to China through Kazakh territory. It is assumed that Kazakhstan portion of the gas pipeline would run along the Kostanay - Astana - Pavlodar - Semipalatinsk (Semey) - Ust-Kamenogorsk route.