The Uzbek government has signed an agreement with China to build a pipeline with a projected capacity of 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas, it said in a statement on Monday, 30 April.

The deal was signed in Tashkent between Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov and the head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, Ma Kai.

The statement did not specify either the timeframe for completing the project or participants who expect to take part.

Currently, Uzbekistan produces 62 bcm of gas per annum but exports less than 13 bcm, as most of its output is consumed domestically. Of the exported amount, Russian state monopoly Gazprom last year bought 9 bcm, while the remainder went to the neighbouring states of Central Asia.

However, the pipeline can be extended further and used to import gas from Turkmenistan to China.