China’s relations with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in terms of energy security is an important issue with regional and global implications. These countries in Central Asia are considered as strategic partners to meet China’s energy needs due to their rich natural gas and oil reserves. China meets most of its energy needs through imports. Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan also supply China with natural gas and oil. These countries play an important role in closing China’s energy deficit.
The share of Central Asian and Caspian energy resources among the world energy resources is relatively small. Nevertheless, the importance of these resources is increasing in the eyes of China and Russia. The fact that most of the energy resources in the region are transmitted to the world markets through the lines in Russian territory has made Russia a monopoly in the region. Russia uses this position effectively in its foreign policy. Russia’s monopolistic position in the region in terms of energy started to be broken with the oil pipeline agreement signed between Kazakhstan and China.
While the United States of America (USA) ranks first in the world with an average daily oil consumption of 19 million 960 thousand barrels, China ranks second in the world with an average daily oil consumption of 12 million 470 thousand barrels. Parallel to the growth in China’s economy, there is also an increase in energy consumption. With the increase in China’s energy need, it meets a significant part of this need through imports from Central Asia.
After the invasion of Iraq, China pursued a policy of diversifying its sources for energy security. Within the scope of this policy, China has sought to develop close relations with the Central Asian and Caspian countries and in this context, an energy bridge was established between China and Kazakhstan. In the context of meeting China’s energy needs from the Central Asia region, the Kazakhstan-China Oil Pipeline is very important as the first step.
Apart from Kazakhstan, China has close relations with other countries in Central Asia in terms of energy security. One of these is Turkmenistan. On the one hand, Ashgabat emphasises that they continue to cooperate with Moscow, on the other hand, alternative energy policies are on their agenda. Thus, Turkmenistan shows China that it is favourable to the issue of energy security.
Turkmenistan held negotiations for the transfer of its energy resources to China via Kazakhstan and announced that Turkmenistan is the third leg of the Kazakhstan-China line. The Trans-Central Asia Pipeline project, which was built to meet the country’s energy needs and increase energy security by transporting the natural gas reserves in Central Asia to China, represents an important infrastructure for energy transport between China and Turkmenistan.
China has concluded strategic energy co-operation agreements with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, covering the procurement of energy resources, pricing and other issues. This co-operation forms the basis for long-term and mutually beneficial relationships.
China’s energy cooperation with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan is also critical for ensuring China’s energy security and supporting its economic growth. On the one hand, these relations provide economic opportunities for the Central Asian countries, and on the other hand, they contribute to increasing regional stability.
The fact that a significant portion of energy resources are transported to the world markets via Russia has made the Central Asian and Caspian countries dependent on Moscow. Breaking Russia’s energy security monopoly in the Central Asian region will be possible through the diversification of energy transmission lines of the countries in the region. In this direction, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, two of the countries in the region, have been establishing and maintaining relations with China within the scope of energy policies through oil and gas pipeline projects.
