27-06-08 The construction of a gas treatment plant, which will supply the transnational gas pipeline running from Turkmenistan to China, has been started at one of the most promising gas fields, Samandepe, located on the right bank of the river Amudarya.
The modern industrial complex with a capacity of 5 bn cm of gas will be constructed by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which has been exploring the contract territory of Bagtyyarlyk for about one year, having concluded a production sharing agreement with the Turkmen presidential state agency for the management and use of hydrocarbon resources.

"By building this gas treatment facility, we will have the chance to transport Turkmen gas from the right bank of the Amudarya to China through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in 2009," President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said in an address to the participants in a gas treatment plant's groundbreaking ceremony. The president cited independent foreign experts, which estimated the reserves of natural gas in Turkmenistan at 24.6 tcm.
"Together with our Chinese partners, we are working extensively on developing the right bank of the Amudarya. The opening of a new route for exporting Turkmen gas will provide a powerful incentive to the development of the Turkmen and Chinese economies and also the neighbouring states in the region," Berdymukhamedov said.

Thus, the commissioning of the new facility will make it possible to start gas supply from Turkmenistan to China next year, as is envisioned by an agreement between the Turkmen state concern Turkmengaz and CNPC during Berdymukhamedov's visit to China.
By signing the agreement, Turkmenistan committed itself to supplying China annually with up to 30 bn cm of gas from the fields on the right bank of the Amudarya for 30 years starting from January 2009. The gas pipeline being built for this purpose will be 7,000 km long, and 188 km of it will run through Turkmenistan. Another 530 km of the gas pipeline will go through Uzbekistan, 1,300 through Kazakhstan, and more than 4,500 km will be in the Chinese territory.

The new gas treatment plant will be one of the two such plants whose construction Turkmenistan plans for the near future.
In addition to purified gas meeting the highest quality standards, the plant will also produce gas condensate and solid sulphur.