OREANDA-NEWS. On 08 April 2009 was announced, that Vyksa Steel Works (VSW, Nizhni Novgorod Region), part of United Metallurgical Company (OMK), had dispatched more than 100 thousand large-diameter pipes (LDP) for the transnational project for construction of gas pipeline Central Asia – China (CAC).

In October 2008, OMK started to supply its pipes for CAC, which will connect China’s gas transport system, through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, with large natural gas fields located in Turkmenistan. Until October 2009, for the construction of the Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan gas pipeline sections, VSW is supposed to manufacture and supply a total of 350 thousand tonnes of pipes (diameter: 1,067 mm; wall thickness: 15.9 mm) having exterior and interior corrosion-resistant coating (CRC). Pipes are Steel X70 in accordance with API Spec 5L, Level PFL 2, and the specifications of the customer, Asian Gas Pipeline. The entire pipe production and testing process is inspected by Moody International experts.

The Central Asia-China gas pipeline will have two strings from the Samandepe field, Turkmenistan, to China via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Its total length will exceed 7,000 kilometers, including 188 kilometers in Turkmenistan, 560 kilometers in Uzbekistan, 1,300 kilometers in Kazakhstan, and 5,000 kilometers in China. A total of 1.52 million tonnes of pipes will be required for the project. Kazakhstan’s section (Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline) will be built by Asian Gas Pipeline, a limited liability partnership established by Trans-Asia Gas Pipeline Company Limited, an affiliate of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and Kazakhstan’s state-owned gas transportation company KazTransGas. The Chinese company and Uzbekistan’s state-owned holding company Uzbekneftegaz set up a joint venture, Asia Trans Gas, to construct the Uzbek section (Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan gas pipeline).

“In addition to its participation in the CAC project, VSW produces large-diameter pipes for the construction of the gas pipelines Nord Stream, Bovanenkovo-Ukhta, and Dzhubga-Lazarevskoye-Sochi, said VSW Executive Director Vladimir Kochetkov. “The Company’s participation in these large and prestigious projects was made possible owing to the creation at VSW of the world's largest LDP and CRC facilities, which now operate at full capacity despite the unfavorable economic situation. We are getting ready to participate in the biddings for supply of pipes for the construction of Phases 2 of Nord Stream and the Baltic Pipeline System and, in the future, for the Shtokman subsea gas deposit and Phase 2 of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean Oil Pipeline.