The total volume of natural gas trade between Turkmenistan and China has reached 450 billion cubic meters, giving a powerful impetus to the economic and social development of both countries, announced Chen Huailong, President of CNPC Central Asia and Russia, at the 30th International Conference and Exhibition “Oil & Gas of Turkmenistan-2025” (OGT 2025).
Chen Huailong noted that the global energy system is rapidly moving towards a clean and low-carbon future, in which natural gas plays an indispensable and pivotal role.
“As one of the countries with the richest natural gas reserves in the world, Turkmenistan has significant advantages in meeting the growing demand for energy… and also assists countries in achieving their low-carbon development goals,” stated the CNPC President.
He emphasized that Turkmenistan’s active expansion of gas export routes provides favorable energy support to regional partners in achieving their emission reduction targets.
CNPC and Turkmenistan have achieved impressive results over the past 19 years of energy cooperation, which began with the signing of the Gas Purchase and Sale Agreement and the Production Sharing Agreement for the right bank of the Amu Darya River in 2007.
Cooperation has expanded to cover field development, trade, engineering construction, technical services, equipment supply, as well as green and low-carbon development.
CNPC’s oil operations in the “Bagtyyarlyk” Contractual Territory continue to function effectively.
Expansion of Cooperation in Four Key Areas
Going forward, CNPC intends to deepen comprehensive energy cooperation with the State Concern “Turkmengaz” and other partners, implementing the consensus reached by the heads of the two states, across the following key areas:
- Strengthening the Gas Value Chain: Intensifying and expanding cooperation across the entire gas chain, ensuring stable production, enhancing gas recovery, and securing the safe operation of pipelines.
- Green Transformation and Decarbonization: Accelerating the transition to green energy, promoting joint research in Renewable Energy Sources (RES), hydrogen energy, and methane emission reduction. This will assist Turkmenistan in optimizing its energy structure and achieving carbon reduction goals.
- Digitalization of Infrastructure: Deepening cooperation in digitalization, including the development of intelligent energy systems, digital pipelines, and the construction of smart oil fields, to enhance system resilience and efficiency.
- Human Resources Base: Strengthening cooperation in training highly qualified energy specialists for Turkmenistan through mechanisms such as the “Lu Ban Workshop“, which will lay the foundation for a long-term partnership.
“Standing at a new historical starting point, looking back at the past and forward to the future, we are ready to work together with all parties to raise the level of cooperation… contributing our wisdom and strength to creating a more just, tolerant, and sustainable global energy governance system,” concluded Chen Huailong. ///nCa, 22 October 2025