Kazakhstan eyes Qatar investment in gas line

Kazakhstan is keen to link up with Qatar to build pipelines to deliver gas from the western part of the central Asian country to domestic consumers, a senior executive of Kazakh state-owned QazaqGaz said.

"Qatar has a lot of experience with the gas industry and we will be closely dealing with them" on a couple of pipelines to transport gas from the west of Kazakhstan to the southern and northern regions, QazaqGaz first deputy chairman Meirbek Ikhsanov said today at CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston, Texas.

Ikhsanov did not provide additional details on the potential projects. Kazakhstan said previously it is considering building a 600km gas pipeline linking western producing regions to the north of the country.

Growing domestic demand is forcing Kazakhstan to find new supply sources for northern and eastern regions as industry and households switch to gas from coal.

The government has set a target of doubling the GDP by 2029 at the same time as planning to phase out coal-fired generation, Ikhsanov said, adding that both factors would increase domestic demand for gas.

QazaqGaz and Qatar will also cooperate in building gas treatment plants, Ikhsanov said.

The low government-set price of natural gas has been a challenge for attracting foreign investors in domestic production, Ikhsanov said. "But pipelines are very profitable," he said.

By Haik Gugarats