Beijing eager for more of Ashgabat's gas

BEIJING, March 3 (UPI) -- Turkmenistan is expected to sign a framework agreement with China to increase natural gas shipments, an economic commission from Beijing announced.

Turkmenistan agreed to move ahead with plans to increase natural gas deliveries to China by more than 700 billion cubic feet per year. The deal could be finalized this year, China's official Xinhua news agency reports.

China National Petroleum Co. and Uzbekistan signed a deal last year for natural gas deliveries that would be transporting through a pipeline in Turkmenistan.

Chinese government officials met with Kazakh leaders in December as part of commencement ceremonies for phase 2 of the Kazakhstan-China natural gas pipeline.

The 916-mile natural gas pipeline will carry as much as 350 billion cubic feet of gas. The first stage of the pipeline should be ready by the end of 2012 and the China National Petroleum Corp. said it could be expanded to carry as much as 530 billion cf.

The project is a joint venture between CNPC and Kazakhstan's KazTransGas.