Uzbekistan started exporting natural gas to China on April 1, Interfax cites Shokir Fayzullayev, CEO of the Uzbekneftegaz National Holding, as saying.
The contract on gas exports was signed with China in autumn 2011. China is expected to buy 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
The two states started construction of the third line of the Middle Asia-China Gas Pipeline in December 2011. It will have a capacity of up to 25 billion cubic meters annually. The first two lines were built in 2009 and 2010 respectively. The third is expected to be built in 2014.
Uzbekistan extracts about 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. It has reserves of about 3.4 trillion cubic meters.
