China Moves into Uzbek Energy
China Moves into Uzbek Energy
A Chinese oil major is likely to become the driving force in a consortium granted rights to develop oil and gas deposits in northern Uzbekistan, NBCentralAsia analysts predict, explaining that Beijing’s interest in the project is part of its worldwide hunt for energy sources.
On January 30, the consortium signed a production-sharing agreement that will allow them to move ahead with exploration on the shores of the Aral Sea. The China National Petroleum Corporation, CNPC, Russia’s Lukoil, Petronas of Malaysia, South Korea’s KNOC, and the national oil and gas firm Uzbekneftegaz, all have equal shares in the consortium, which will have a project life of 35 years.
Mike Zhang of CNPC told NBCentralAsia that it was hoped the exploration phase would identify “potential oil and gas reserves on a commercially viable scale”.
Chinese investment in Uzbekistan’s energy sector is increasing. In December, for instance, CNPC bought rights to explore five sites in various parts of the country.
Total Chinese investment in Uzbek oil and gas exploration is expected to come to around 26 million US dollars in 2007, and this sum will grow to 208 million dollars in the next five years.
A South Korean analyst who studies China believes Beijing will prove the most aggressive of the growing number of investors.
“China’s policy is broadly expansionist, with the aim of getting hold of all the energy sources it can,” said the source. “The other day, China’s prime minister Wen Jiabao announced the allocation [of funds] for more aggressive investment all over the world, in particular in energy resources.”
Davron Sharipov, a political consultant, told NBCentralAsia be believes Beijing would like to use economic instruments to achieve political domination in Central Asia. At the centre of this strategy, he said, was the planned gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China, an agreement on which was signed recently.
Sharipov said developing Uzbek gas sources could help the Chinese fill the pipeline.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
On January 30, the consortium signed a production-sharing agreement that will allow them to move ahead with exploration on the shores of the Aral Sea. The China National Petroleum Corporation, CNPC, Russia’s Lukoil, Petronas of Malaysia, South Korea’s KNOC, and the national oil and gas firm Uzbekneftegaz, all have equal shares in the consortium, which will have a project life of 35 years.
Mike Zhang of CNPC told NBCentralAsia that it was hoped the exploration phase would identify “potential oil and gas reserves on a commercially viable scale”.
Chinese investment in Uzbekistan’s energy sector is increasing. In December, for instance, CNPC bought rights to explore five sites in various parts of the country.
Total Chinese investment in Uzbek oil and gas exploration is expected to come to around 26 million US dollars in 2007, and this sum will grow to 208 million dollars in the next five years.
A South Korean analyst who studies China believes Beijing will prove the most aggressive of the growing number of investors.
“China’s policy is broadly expansionist, with the aim of getting hold of all the energy sources it can,” said the source. “The other day, China’s prime minister Wen Jiabao announced the allocation [of funds] for more aggressive investment all over the world, in particular in energy resources.”
Davron Sharipov, a political consultant, told NBCentralAsia be believes Beijing would like to use economic instruments to achieve political domination in Central Asia. At the centre of this strategy, he said, was the planned gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China, an agreement on which was signed recently.
Sharipov said developing Uzbek gas sources could help the Chinese fill the pipeline.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
