China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and
KazMunaiGaz have agreed in principle to form an equally-owned joint venture to
develop the Urikhtau gas field in
Kazakhstan
, CNPC’s newspaper China Petroleum Daily
reported today.
Witnessed by the two countries'
presidents, the two state-owned companies signed the agreement in
Beijing
on Tuesday, the report was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Production at the field can feed a
new
Kazakhstan
gas pipeline being built by the two companies.
The pipeline will be connected to
the massive Central Asia-China gas trunkline that starts from
Turkmenistan
and enters
China
in the north-western Xinjiang region.
The newspaper report did not
mention any investment plan or potential gas reserves in the Urikhtau field.
CNPC and KazMunaiGaz started
laying a first-phase, 1164-kilometre gas line from Bozoi to Shymkent in
Kazakhstan
in December, which will be extended to Beyneu in
Kazakhstan
in a later second phase.
The two phases, with total length
of 1475 kilometres, will have gas shipping capacity of 10 billion to 15 billion
cubic metres per annum