Kaztransgas said gas exports to China continued “in the agreed volumes” for now. The Central Asian nation planned to ship 10 billion cubic metres of its own gas to China this year, in addition to transhipping even larger volumes from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
PetroChina has suspended some natural gas imports, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments and on gas imported via pipelines, as a seasonal plunge in demand added to the impact on consumption from the coronavirus outbreak.
China’s top gas producer and piped gas supplier issued the force majeure notice to suppliers of piped gas and also to at least one LNG supplier, sources told Reuters, though details of the force majeure notice could not immediately be confirmed.
Suppliers in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have so far made no comments on PetroChina’s move.
