Uzbekistan boosts Turkmen gas import as winter approaches

Uzbekistan has signed an import deal with neighbouring Turkmenistan for an extra 1.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas for the winter season.

The statement came from a source in the Uzbek government, Reuters informs.

“Uzbekistan, which itself produces around 52 bcm of natural gas per year, has been importing around 15 million cubic metres of gas daily. This will now be topped by some additional 20 million cubic metres a day to meet the former Soviet state's gas shortfall over the winter season,” the source said.

The deal was signed following a meeting in Ashgabat on December 12 between Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdimuhammedov and Sardar Umurzakov, Head of the presidential administration of Uzbekistan.