Kazakhstan, Russia set 2030 launch date for Ishim-Astana gas pipeline

ALMATY. Feb 5 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan and Russian energy giant Gazprom plan to launch the new Ishim-Astana trunk gas pipeline on January 1, 2030, Dauren Abayev, Kazakhstan's ambassador to Russia, said.

"The signing of the implementation memorandum for the Ishim-Astana gas pipeline project is significant for gas supply to the northern regions of our country. According to the preliminary schedule, the gas pipeline should start operating on January 1, 2030,"Abayev said in an article for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

"Transit supplies of Russian gas through Kazakhstan are steadily growing," Abayev said. The pipeline's launch will "strengthen regional stability and the energy security of Central Asia" and "will also contribute to the expansion and modernization of Kazakhstan's gas transportation infrastructure," he said.

Kazakhstan's government signed a strategic partnership agreement with Gazprom in 2023, covering gas supply, transportation, processing, exploration and production. The parties are discussing a pipeline project to transport 45 billion cubic meters of gas annually, of which 10 bcm would be supplied to Kazakhstan's northeastern regions and 35 bcm would be exported to China.

Gazprom and Kazakhstan in October 2025 signed a memorandum on the construction of a new trunk gas pipeline from Russia to Kazakhstan. This project could play a significant role in redirecting Russian pipeline gas exports.

A trunk pipeline to supply gas to consumers in Kazakhstan's northern and northeastern regions has already been included in the Russian government's territorial planning scheme for federal transport. The planned throughput capacity of the pipeline is 10 bcm per year, with pump station capacity of 50 MW.