Gas hub for Central Asia being created in Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Feb.21, 2020. /Kabar/. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UzTransGaz have begun preparing a Gas Master Plan (GMP) to establish in Uzbekistan a gas hub for Central Asia, the press service of the Uzbek Energy Ministry said.

German ILF Business Consult GmbH will act as a consultant in preparation of GMP.

The master plan also provides for the preparation of a medium-term (10 years) and long-term (20 years) strategy for the development of gas transport infrastructure in Uzbekistan, analysis of supply and demand for Uzbek gas, and scenarios of its transportation.

Uzbekistan's PM Abdulla Aripov said in January that the country plans to stop by 2025 exporting natural gas and processing all of its domestically produced gas.

According to the State Committee on Statistics, in 2019 Uzbekistan's natural gas production fell by 1.6% to 59.46 billion cubic meters compared to 2018.

In 2020, production is planned to increase by 7.2 % to 63.8 billion cubic meters.