VZCZCXRO4145
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHAH #0162 0331316
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021316Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4182
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 6211
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3889
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3748
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4455
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1461
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4364
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000162 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN; EEB; 
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/BURPOE/COHEN 
COMMERCE FOR EHOUSE/DSTARKS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET PGOV EINV CH TX
SUBJECT: TURKMEN GAS HITS BEIJING 
 
REF: ASHGABAT 35 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (U) On January 30, the Government-owned newspaper "Neutral 
Turkmenistan" published an article entitled "Turkmen Gas Has Reached 
Beijing."  The article cites various Chinese media outlets as 
stating that the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) began 
pumping Turkmen gas from the Horgos station at the Kazakh-Chinese 
border to the Jingbian station via the newly-built western segment 
of the Second West-East gas pipeline and that the gas had 
successfully reached Beijing through the Shaan - Jing gas pipeline. 
Both the Second West-East and the Shaan -Jing pipelines are located 
inside China and are part of the Chinese gas transportation system, 
designed to transport Turkmen gas from the Central Asia - China gas 
pipeline to central and eastern parts of China (reftel). 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Turkmen press article emphasized that Turkmen gas 
exports will help CNPC tackle a sharp increase in gas demand for 
Beijing and other parts of the country, brought on by an extremely 
cold winter.  It also indicated that the current Turkmen gas inflow 
rate into China is 6.6 million cubic meters per day.  It should be 
noted that the article does not cite any sources from the Turkmen 
oil and gas industry. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) According to a Turkmen Oil and Gas Ministry official, the 
Ministry does not generally follow developments concerning  Turkmen 
gas to China, as it is "not concerned about the fate of Turkmen gas 
after it crosses the Turkmen border."  She also commented on volumes 
of gas to China, pointing out that volumes should reach about 10 
million cubic meters per day by the end of 2010, bringing the total 
volume of gas exports for 2010 to 3-3.5 billion cubic meters (bcm). 
She added that, despite an overall global drop in demand for gas, 
CNPC is ramping up its gas transportation infrastructure inside of 
China to accommodate Turkmen gas imported through the Central Asia - 
China gas pipeline. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The Turkmen press confirmed that Turkmen gas has 
finally reached China, a source of great pride for the Turkmen. 
Turkmenistan hopes to increase gas exports to China to up to 40 bcm 
per year by 2014.  If gas demand in China continues to incline 
steadily, as predicted, the Chinese are likely to need every 
molecule of gas Turkmenistan has to offer.  END COMMENT. 
 
CURRAN