OREANDA-NEWS. July 01, 2014. Central Asia is now supplying nearly half of China's needs for imported gas, with the majority sourced from Turkmenistan, according to a new report from BP. However, Beijing continues pushing to raise its imports from the region.

Turkmenistan supplied 24.4bn cubic metres (cm) of gas to the world's largest energy consumer in 2013. Uzbekistan delivered 2.9bn cm but Kazakhstan managed just 0.1bn cm, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2014. The news comes just days after China inaugurated a third line of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline.

China also imported 24.5m tonnes of liquefied natural gas last year, which translates as 33.81bn cm. However, gas supplies by ship from suppliers such as Brazil, Australia and Indonesia are seen as an increased risk to energy security on the back of an increase in tension with neighbours and the West in the South China Sea.

The figures show Central Asia accounted for 45% of China's gas imports in 2013. However, it wants more gas from the region, and on June 15 inaugurated a Line C of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline. Running from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China's western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region it will eventually carry 25bn cm. A fourth line with similar capacity is due to see construction start later this year.

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are reported to be pumping 30bn cm of gas per year into the 1,833km Lines A and B, which were completed in 2009 and 2010 respectively. They are due to pump 10bn cm each into Line C, with Kazakhstan contributing 5bn cm. The new line will increase the total capacity of the pipeline to 55bn cm per year.