China Green Energy
May 24th, 2023
On May 17, the day before the China-Central Asia Summit, China and Kazakhstan issued the Joint Statement Between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Kazakhstan, and reached some cooperations in the energy field.
According to the Statement, the two sides agreed to take measures to ensure the long-term safe and stable operation and stable supply of the Kazakhstan section of the China-Central Asia Natural Gas Pipeline and China-Central Asia Natural Gas Pipeline, continue to deepen cooperation in the fields of oil, natural gas, and natural uranium, and actively expand wind power, photovoltaics, photovoltaics, etc. Cooperation in clean energy fields such as heat and nuclear power.
On May 18 and May 19, the China-Central Asia Summit was held in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. It is the first in-person meeting of the heads of state together with China since they established diplomatic relations after the fall of the Soviet Union, according to China’s state media.
Since the independence of the Central Asian nations, the bilateral and multilateral cooperations between China and Central Asia has been close, especially in the energy field.
As China's leading energy state-owned enterprises, Sinopec and PetroChina have carried out energy cooperations with Central Asian countries in different forms. As the global energy landscape has been reshaped, energy cooperations between Chinese companies and Central Asia will develop further.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (HKG: 0386, "Sinopec") has signed a key terms agreement with KazMunayGaz, the national operator of the oil and gas industry of Kazakhstan, for developing a polyethylene project in the Atyrau Region on May 18 in Xi'an, China.
The agreement, signed during Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's visit to China, marks that Sinopec will participate in and push forward the project as a cooperative partner.
The polyethylene project will be the largest natural gas and chemical project in the region, the investment decision of which is expected to be finalized in 2024, and when Sinopec formally joins the project in the future, all parties will sign an equity acquisition agreement and other legally binding documents of relevance.
Sinopec and KazMunayGaz have been long-term partners with a solid foundation of cooperation, and the signing of the agreement is bringing the partnership to a new level, leveraging Sinopec's leading advantages in engineering, marketing and sales, production, and operation, as well as KazMunayGaz's firm and strong capabilities in the local market and wealth of resources, to promote mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve win-win development.
Sinopec is a listed company on domestic and international stock exchanges with integrated upstream, midstream, and downstream operations, strong oil and petrochemical core businesses, and a complete marketing network. Its parent company, China Petrochemical Corporation, is the largest refining company and the third largest chemical company in the world, with a top 5 ranking on Fortune's Global 500 List.
Headquartered in Astana, KazMunayGaz represents the interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the oil and gas industry. Its main business covers oil and gas exploration and exploitation, petroleum processing, oil product sales, storage, pipelines, oil field services, and more.
Since The Belt and Road Initiative was put forward 10 years ago, PetroChina is building a core oil and gas cooperation zone of "Resources, Supply, Efficiency, and Brand" in Central Asian.
Dai Houliang, Chairman of PetroChina participated in a series of China-Central Asia Summit activities in Xi'an and met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Dai signed a series of cooperation documents with Kazakh Ministry of Energy.
Tokayev pointed out that PetroChina is Kazakhstan's strategic partner, and that the oil and gas cooperation between the two parties plays a very pivotal role in Kazakhstan's economic development. Down the road, PetroChina is welcomed to actively participate in oil and gas exploration and development in Kazakhstan.
Dai said that PetroChina is willing to continue to carry out investment cooperation with Kazakhstan, strengthen cooperation in high-quality oil and gas cooperation projects, natural gas trade, etc., deepen exchanges in green and low-carbon, scientific and technological exchanges, personnel training, etc., and contribute to the construction and development of "New Kazakhstan".
China and Kazakhstan have made new contributions to the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", opined Dai.
Actually, energy cooperation between China and Central Asia began as early as the 1990s. In 1997, PetroChina successfully acquired the Aktobe project, which opened the prelude to oil and gas cooperation between China and Central Asian nations.
In Kazakhstan, PetroChina participates in the operation of oil and gas projects such as Aktobe, PK, Mangeshtau and Kashagan, as well as China-Kazakhstan Crude Oil Pipeline, China-Kazakhstan Natural Gas Pipeline, Shymkent Oil Refinery, Asia Steel Pipe Company and other key projects.
In Turkmenistan, the Amu Darya Natural Gas project operated by PetroChina has achieved an annual production capacity of 10 million tons of oil and gas equivalent, and has an annual gas supply capacity of 10 billion cubic meters.
In addition to oil and gas projects, pipelines cooperation between China and Central Asia are also being extended. The Central Asia Natural Gas Pipeline starts from Turkmenistan, passes through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and enters China, benefiting countries along the route. The China-Kazakhstan Natural Gas Pipeline project is one of the largest investment projects since Kazakhstan's independence. It has played an important role in ensuring the natural gas supply between China and Kazakhstan, promoting employment and infrastructure construction in areas along the route.
In addition, in the field of natural gas development, PetroChina has built a modern natural gas exploration and development system in the Karakum Desert, achieving the high production target of 40 million cubic meters per day in winter year after year. The Amu Darya Project has become a large-scale gas field with the most advanced technology in Turkmenistan.
In the field of refining and petrochemicals, PetroChina successfully completed the modernization project of the Shymkent refinery in Kazakhstan. In September 2018, it produced refined oil products that meet Euro IV and Euro V standards, becoming the most advanced refinery with an annual refining capacity of 6 million tons in Central Asia. A modern refinery contributes to stabilizing the local refined oil market.
