In 2023, Uzbekistan exported natural gas worth $563.54 million to China, as reported by the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China.
This reflects a nearly 50% decrease from the 2022 volume of $1.07 billion and a 41.7% drop compared to the 2021 figure of $799 million. The decline can be attributed to the suspension of gas exports from January to March due to an energy crisis in Uzbekistan and a reduction in domestic gas production.
In December, Uzbekistan supplied $54.5 million worth of natural gas to China (-0.1% compared to November).
Russia maintained its position as the primary exporter of gas (both pipeline and liquefied gas) to China, reaching $11.56 billion in 2023 ($10.8 billion in 2022). Turkmenistan secured the second spot with $9.6 billion ($10.2 billion). Indonesia followed with $2.66 billion ($2.96 billion), Myanmar with $1.46 billion ($1.43 billion) and Kazakhstan with $1.34 billion ($1.1 billion).
According to the Statistics Agency, Uzbekistan’s gas exports abroad amounted to $529.9 million in the last year, reflecting a 42.7% decrease compared to 2022.
Recalling that gas production in Uzbekistan for 2023 totaled 46.7 billion cubic meters, experiencing a 9.6% decline, equivalent to 4.97 billion cubic meters, compared to the same period in the previous year.
It is noteworthy that the volume of gas supplies solely to China exceeds the total gas export figure reported by the Statistics Agency by $33.65 million, even though Uzbekistan also supplies the gas fuel to Kyrgyzstan. For instance, Kyrgyzstan received 38.6 million cubic meters of Uzbek gas valued at $5.8 million over 11 months.
As previously reported by Gazeta.uz, there is a substantial disparity in the data on gas exports provided by Uzbekistan and China. Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov, the minister of energy, commented back then that China considers the transit of Turkmen gas. Despite this clarification, our calculations suggest that the statistics may still significantly differ.
The Statistics Agency has never disclosed the breakdown of services in Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover, making it impossible to determine precisely how much Uzbekistan earns from gas transit from Turkmenistan to China. The transit is facilitated by Asia Trans Gas, a company established in 2008 with equal 50% ownership by Uzbekneftegaz and Trans-Asia Gas Pipeline Company (TAPLine, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned CNPC).
