THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE «ENERGY SILK ROAD: RESULTS AND PROSPECTS OF OIL AND GAS COOPERATION IN CENTRAL ASIA» WAS HELD IN THE LIBRARY OF ELBASY

On September 29 this year, the Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy hosted the International Scientific Conference "Energy Silk Road: Results and Prospects of Oil and Gas Cooperation in Central Asia", dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The conference demonstrated the special importance of the oil and gas sector in the sustainable development of the national economy, as well as the formation of our country as an important regional hub that contributes to ensuring energy security in Eurasia.

The event was attended by prominent politicians, scientists, experts, representatives of government agencies, research institutes and universities from Kazakhstan, China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The current results of the development of the oil and gas sector and its contribution to the economy of Kazakhstan, cooperation of Central Asian countries with foreign investors, the importance of pipeline communications towards the West and East, as well as the prospects for building the 21^st-century energy Silk Road.

- This year Kazakhstan celebrates the 30th anniversary of its Independence. The oil and gas industry has undoubtedly become one of the factors that have ensured the dynamic development of our country over the years. It is well known that Central Asia has some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world. This naturally determines its special role in ensuring global energy security, the increased interest of the world community in our region and its high investment attractiveness. Over the past three decades, energy corporations from the USA, France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, India, and China have become strategic investors in the industry of the Central Asian region. Thanks to the purposeful and consistent policy of Elbasy, our country has attracted over 114 billion US dollars of investments in the oil and gas sector over 30 years. This capital has become a powerful driver of the growth of the Kazakh economy and the key to the sustainable development of society. And the revenue from the growing energy exports decided by the First President goes to the National Fund. In cooperation with foreign partners, Kazakhstan has built an extensive network of pipeline routes to the countries of the West and East, thereby contributing to the development of the energy Silk Road within the framework of China’s previously initiated global project, Director of the Library of Elbasy Bakytzhan Temirbolat said, opening the conference.

- Undoubtedly, the role of Elbasy in the development of the energy sector of Kazakhstan is fundamental. It gave a significant boost to the industry and attracted a large amount of direct investment to the country’s economy. ... Given China’s fast-growing economy, and having studied the region’s prospects, we have come to a common understanding with our neighbors on increasing the productive capacity and energy resources for exporting raw materials to China. Thus, Kazakhstan was able to form the basis for the development of the modern energy Silk Road, thanks to the mutually beneficial and close cooperation with our strategic partner, the People's Republic of China, built by the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, N.A. Nazarbayev. Over the years of independence, two important pipelines for transportation of energy resources were built, the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline in 2006 and the Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline in 2009, which connect all countries of the Silk Road. Some 147 billion tons of oil and 44 billion cubes of gas have been transported to China since the pipeline began operation. These figures indicate the importance of the energy Silk Road not only in the region but also in the world arena as a whole, Vice Minister of Energy Asset Magauov said.

– I believe that this conference is timely and appropriate against the background of the upcoming 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the countries of Central Asia. This is exactly the moment that makes it possible, on the one hand, to sum up the results of both bilateral and multilateral energy cooperation, and on the other hand, to outline plans for the future. This cooperation attracts the highest attention of the political leadership of our countries, the biggest investments are made in it, it gives us the most tangible benefits, said Zhang Xiao, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Kazakhstan.

- Since the end of the XX century, in the activities of many states of the world, the central position has been occupied by the issues of interaction between states in the energy sector. The need to address the issue of sustainable energy supply in the context of energy globalization and the strengthening of energy interdependence has led to an increase in the activity of the foreign ministries of the countries. Energy resources have become an important component of global politics, and in practice, such values as energy diplomacy and energy security have been established. Speaking about the energy Silk Road, we are talking about cooperation with China. With the signing of historic agreements on cooperation in the field of oil and gas in relations between Kazakhstan, the countries of Central Asia and China, the era of cooperation began. If you look at foreign political analytics, the topic of oil and gas cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and China is very popular. When the issues of China's cooperation with our region are discussed, many people wonder what is more in these relations: geopolitics or economics, dependence or benefits. The answer here, in my opinion, is more diplomacy and pragmatism, said Manarbek Kabaziev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Institute of Foreign Policy Studies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

–  In the early 1990s, following the establishment of inter-state relations between the Central Asian countries and China, prospects opened up for the revival of the ancient Silk Road in the region under the new modern conditions, including the sphere of oil and gas cooperation. Today, the China National Petroleum Corporation is successfully implementing a number of joint projects in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on a mutually beneficial basis. In China, they say: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." 24 years ago, the investment path of the corporation started on the project of JSC "CNPC-Aktobemunaygas". After a difficult and fruitful start, the project has become a model of mutually beneficial cooperation, a leader and locomotive of oil and gas projects in Central Asia. The company succeeded in doubling hydrocarbon production at the Kenkiyak - Podsolevoy field, the development of which had been considered unpromising by US and European oil companies. Using innovations, production at the Zhanazhol field has been significantly increased. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the development of the North Truva field, explored with CNODC with reserves of over 100 million tons, said Zhang Cheng Wu, Deputy General Director of China National Corporation CNODC.

During the sessions, reports were also made by Director of the TALAP Center for Applied Research Rakhim Oshakbaev, Director of the Institute for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Sun Zhuangzhi, member of the National Council of Public Trust under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Marat Shibutov, Director of the Center for Russian Studies and Central Asia Institute of International Studies, Fudan University Feng Yujun, Leading Researcher, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan Erkin Baydarov, Director of Centil Law Company (Uzbekistan) Umid Aripjanov, Deputy Director of the Center for the Study of China Bolat Usenov, Director of the Institute of Diplomacy of the Academy of Public Administration under the President RK Marian Abisheva, editor-in-chief of the CABAR.asia portal (Kyrgyzstan) Nargiza Muratalieva, first Deputy Director of the Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Petroleum University Liu Qian and others.

As a result of the event, a collection of speeches of the conference participants will be published.

For reference: Within the framework of multi-vector cooperation, one of the strategic directions of the construction of the energy Silk Road is the cooperation with the People's Republic of China.

The signing by Kazakhstan and the Central Asian countries in the late 1990s of agreements with China on the development of fields and the construction of pipelines to transport energy resources was a real step in diversifying the development of the region's oil and gas industry.

Thanks to these projects, Kazakhstan's role as a regional energy hub has increased significantly. In the 2000s, the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline was built, which today exports hydrocarbons from Kazakhstan and Russia to the East.  Later the lines of the Central Asia-China main gas pipeline were laid on the territory of Kazakhstan, which, connecting several countries of the region, directs natural gas from Turkmenistan to the Chinese market.

The years 2021-2022 are symbolic of oil and gas infrastructure projects between Kazakhstan, Central Asian countries and China.

The Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline, the first line of which was launched in December 2005, crossed the 15-year mark. The infrastructure of the Atasu-Alashankou and Kenkiyak-Kumkol lines expanded the diversification of Kazakhstan's oil exports and opened up opportunities for regular oil supplies to China, the world's fastest-growing and most capacious energy consumption market. The system of main pipelines "Kazakhstan-China" is of strategic importance for regional energy cooperation, because it is also used for the transportation of oil from Western Siberia by Russia through the connection with the Omsk (Russia) -Pavlodar (Kazakhstan) -Shymkent-Turkmenabad (Turkmenistan) oil pipeline at the Atasu oil terminal.

The Central Asia-China gas pipeline, launched in 2009, has entered its second 10th anniversary. Over the years of operation, the gas pipeline has become the largest gas supply system in Central Asia and has a positive impact on the socio-economic development of the region. The gas pipeline is of strategic importance for both Central Asia and China. It became the first infrastructure project in the region that united Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and later they will join the cooperation after the completion of the fourth line of the gas pipeline.