Azernews.Az

Kyrgyz Energy and Industry Minister Osmonbek Artykbaev said that one of the branches of the transnational gas transmission line , which will transfer energy from Turkmenistan to China, may pass through Kyrgyzstan.

Local media report that construction of the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China, which passes through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China, was launched in 2007.

The gas transportation system's capacity is about 40 billion cubic meters. Construction of the third line, which will increase capacity to 65 billion cubic meters, is currently under consideration. A section of the pipeline may be routed through Kyrgyzstan.

KyrgyzGas states that, in this case, Kyrgyzstan would act as a transit country with all relevant benefits. The issue has already been discussed by the parties on a preliminary basis.

Turkmenistan is one of the key players in the gas market in Central Asia and the Caspian region. China became a strategic partner and the largest creditor of the country's fuel and energy complex after the commissioning of the interstate gas pipeline in 2009.

In 2011, Turkmen gas was transferred to the pipeline system of Guangdong Province - one of the most populous and fastest developing regions in China, located on the Pacific coast.