China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will begin the fourth phase of industrial development of the largest gas field, ‘Galkynysh’, in Turkmenistan in early 2026, said Maksat Babayev, Chairman of the State Concern ‘Türkmengaz’, at the OGT 2025 conference. This was reported by the news website Turkmenportal.

The project consists of seven phases in total. The first phase has already been commissioned: three gas processing plants with a total capacity of 30 billion cubic metres per year have been built. The fourth stage, with a capacity of 10 billion cubic metres per year, will be implemented by CNPC, which won the international tender, with financing provided entirely by Turkmenistan.

M. Babayev stressed that diversification of export routes remains a key focus of gas policy. China remains the main buyer of Turkmen gas: about 40 billion cubic metres per year are supplied through three existing pipelines.

After the launch of Line D, volumes are planned to be increased to 65 billion cubic metres per year, which will strengthen the stability of supplies to the Chinese market.