Turkmenistan-China-Japan
One option for Turkmen gas export is a route through
China. This would be a longer-term and more expensive option than an Iranian
or trans-Caspian route. The proposed pipeline would
run from various reservoirs in East Turkmenistan,
through southern Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, into
China and then Japan, for a combined length of 8,037 km and capacity of
30 bcm per year. The estimated cost of this project is US $10 billion.
Both politics and economics militate against a Far East pipeline anytime
soon. Aside from the high cost, involving so many transit countries would
raise many complicated legal and political issues.
All in all, a pipeline from Turkmenistan to China and then to Japan,
while feasible, is more likely to be a long run possibility than an immediate
solution.
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