DUSHANBE, February 2, 2016, Asia-Plus – More than 40 companies have shown interest in participation in construction of a Tajik section of the China-Central Asia Gas Pipeline (CACGP) network, according to the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MoEWR).
An official source at a MoEWR says the prequalification tender for selection of subcontractors for construction of the Tajik section of the CACGP network took place last year.
According to him, Russian, Chinese and domestic companies have launched applications for participation in construction of the Tajik section of the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China.
We will recall that Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the construction commencement ceremony of the Tajikistan section of Line-D of the China-Central Asia Gas Pipelines (CACGP) on September 13, 2014. The ceremony took place in the Roudaki district.
Line D is the fourth in the pipeline network. The current pipeline network comprising lines A, B and C passes through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before reaching China”s western Xinjiang province.
In November 2011, Ashgabat agreed to send an additional 25 billion cubic meters/year of gas to China, bringing total volumes to 65 billion cu m/year by 2020. Some of the additional gas supplies would come from the supergiant Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan.
A broad agreement for the project was then signed with Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan during President Xi Jinping”s visit to Central Asia in September 2013.
The latest agreement with Tajikistan was signed in Dushanbe in March 2014.
With a length of only 1,000 kilometers, Line D will be the shortest section of the CACGP network.
The pipeline, which at full capacity will carry 30bn cubic meters of natural gas per year, runs from Turkmenistan”s giant gas fields all the way to the Chinese border through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Among all countries the pipeline travels through, Tajikistan has the longest section of about 410 kilometers.
In Tajikistan, the gas pipeline will run through Tursunzoda, Shahrinav, Hisor, Roudaki, Vahdat, Fayzobod, Nourobod, Rasht and Jirgatol to Kyrgyzstan’s border.
Tajikistan had received natural gas from Uzbekistan until 2013. Uzbekistan suspended gas deliveries via pipeline to Tajikistan on December 31, 2012 after both sides failed to agree on gas prices following the expiration of their contract. Uzbekistan, Tajikistan”s only supplier of gas, routinely suspends gas deliveries to its neighbor amid complaints of nonpayment.
