Central Asia-Bound Gas Pipeline Explodes in Russia

A “procedural error” sparked an explosion at a major gas pipeline between Russia and Central Asia, causing it to be temporarily shut down, local authorities in Russia’s Penza region reported on October 13.The Soviet-era Central Asia-Center gas pipeline, historically used to pump natural gas from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan to Russia, has primarily been used in recent years to pump gas in the opposite direction due to shortages in Central Asia.Following an explosion that caused a column of fire nearly 70 meters high, the pipeline was shut off near the village of Volchkovo, in western Penza, Russian breaking news Telegram channel Mash reported.According to local authorities, dozens of emergency workers were deployed to respond to the accident, which they say resulted in no casualties.At present, it is not yet known when gas flows will resume.Previously, the Central Asia-Center pipeline primarily transported natural gas from Turkmenistan north to Russia for domestic consumption and onward export to Europe.Since the early 2010s, however, Turkmen-Russian gas relations have soured and supplies have been intermittent.Following Russia’s full-scale invasion, European markets gradually reduced their imports of Russian gas, making Central Asian supplies redundant.At the same time, domestic consumption in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan increased to the point that they started importing gas from Russia via the Central Asia-Center pipeline. A pipeline shutdown may be particularly disruptive in Kazakhstan, whose deputy energy minister Kairkhan Tutkyshbayev announced last month that the country expected to import 11 billion cubic meters this year, up from 4 bcm in 2025.Sign up for our English-language newsletter.