Uzbekistan clarifies that gas pipeline maintenance unrelated to preparations for Russian gas imports
TASHKENT. March 3 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan's Uztransgaz is carrying out installation work on the internal communications and trunk gas pipelines, but this is unrelated to preparations to begin importing gas from Russia, the company's press service said.
Uztransgaz said a statement it put out on Friday morning about preparing infrastructure to start importing gas from Russia contained "inaccurate information due to a misunderstanding." "The ongoing maintenance and welding work have the aim of improving gas supply to consumers in the southern regions of our republic," the new statement says.
Uztransgaz said on Friday morning that it was preparing its infrastructure to begin importing gas from Russia. "The Gazli Main Gas Pipelines Department is doing the required installation work on the internal communications and trunk gas pipelines," Uztransgaz said. The goal is to make sure that the natural gas coming from Russia does not mix with internally transported domestic gas, it said.
The Gazli Main Gas Pipelines Department is one of the largest enterprises in the gas transmission system. It serves the primary gas pipelines on the territory of the republic, Bukhara-Ural and Central Asia-Center.
A working meeting between the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller and the Energy Minister of Uzbekistan Zhurabek Mirzamakhmudov took place on January 24. The parties considered currently viable and prospective areas of interaction. At the meeting, a roadmap was signed on cooperation.
The negotiations and the adopted roadmap aim to supply natural gas to the domestic market as per its needs while fully observing the Republic of Uzbekistan's property rights to the current gas transmission system.
In accordance with the roadmap, a working group created between the parties accepted the technical measures necessary for the implementation of gas transit along the Central Asia-Center pipeline, which passes through the territories of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
After the working group technically finishes its work, the basic conditions for the supply of natural gas will be discussed.
Uzbekistan plans to start importing Russian gas in March, the Energy Ministry of the republic later announced.
The governments of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are discussing the possibility of increasing Russian gas supplies to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, taking into account both the growth in domestic consumption and export obligations to China. This may require the modernization of the gas transmission infrastructure and even the construction of new gas pipelines. In Russia, it will also be necessary to invest about 260 billion rubles in the development of its gas transmission infrastructure.
This winter, Uzbekistan experienced a large-scale energy crisis due to periods of extreme cold. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev criticized officials for negligence in preparation for the autumn-winter period. According to authorities, there is a gas deficit in the republic during winter peak loads of up to 20 million cubic meters per day.
Therefore, it was decided to activate imports of gas, electricity, coal and fuel oil to cover the energy deficiency.
Uzbekistan is capable of producing about 70 billion cubic meters of gas per year, but because of stock depletions, technological losses and the lack of a system to effectively track hydrocarbon supplies over the past few years, supplies have significantly decreased. In 2022, gas production in the republic decreased 4% compared to 2021 to 51.7 billion cubic meters. According to Uzbek officials, in 2023 the republic could produce 56.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas.