Central Asia–China gas pipeline

History

The initial proposal for the Central Asia–China gas pipeline was presented as the Kazakhstan–China gas pipeline, which was to follow along the Kazakhstan–China oil pipeline. In June 2003, during China's leader Hu Jintao's visit to Kazakhstan, agreements to expedite the appraisal of the project were signed. Following these agreements, KazMunayGas and PetroChina started a feasibility study of the pipeline project. At the same time China continued negotiations with other Central Asian countries.

On 3 April 2006, Chinese leader Hu Jintao and Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov signed a framework agreement on the pipeline construction and long-term gas supply. In June 2007, during his visit to China, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow signed an accord to speed up implementation of the Turkmen-Chinese gas pipeline project. On 30 April 2007, Uzbekistan and China signed an agreement on the construction and exploitation of the pipeline's Uzbekistan section. In July 2007, it was formally announced that Turkmenistan would join the original Kazakhstan-China pipeline project. On 8 November 2007, Kazakhstan's oil company KazMunayGas signed an agreement with the China National Petroleum Corporation on principles of future work on the pipeline.

On 30 August 2007, the construction of the 188 kilometres (117 mi) long Turkmen section of the pipeline began. This section was built by Stroytransgaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom. The main contractors were China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau, China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation, and Zeromax. Construction of the Uzbek section started on 30 June 2008. It was built by Asia Trans Gas, a joint venture of Uzbekneftegas and CNPC. Construction works of the Kazakh section started on 9 July 2008 and the first stage was finished in July 2009. It was built by Asian Gas Pipeline company, a joint venture of CNPC and KazMunayGas. The main contractors of this section were KazStroyService and China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation. The first of the two initial parallel line were completed early November 2009.

The Kazakh section of the pipeline was inaugurated on 12 December 2009 during Chinese leader Hu Jintao's visit to Kazakhstan. The whole pipeline was inaugurated on 14 December 2009 in a ceremony in Saman-Depe during Hu Jintao's visit to Turkmenistan with the leaders of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. On 13 June 2010 China and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on a branch line from Western Kazakhstan.

The second line was completed by the end of 2010. Construction of the third line began in 2012.

The construction of a 966 kilometres (600 mi) fourth line of the pipeline, "Line D", was to have been launched at the end of 2014. However, the fourth line has been dogged by delays. As of August 2021, one tunnel in Tajikistan had been completed. No date has been set for final completion. In May 2023, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping urged Central Asia's leaders "to accelerate laying Line D", and an unnamed Chinese official reportedly said separately, "Central Asian pipelines are considered a cornerstone investment in China's energy and geopolitical space. It's a supply channel with strategic value that supersedes commercial concerns."

S&P Global reported in December 2023 that "PetroChina expects to resume the construction of Line D of the Central Asia – China Gas Pipeline (CAGP) in 2024..." and "...the contract was still under final negotiations. The main disagreement remaining was over prices and the delay in finalizing the upstream gas supply contract was the main reason for the suspension of Line D's construction..." In January 2026, state-owned Тurkmengaz stated that the Galkynysh gas field was to be developed in seven phases, of which the first stage had already been completed successfully. The fourth phase, to be started in early 2026, would include completion of Line D.