Russia’s mega-project to export its gas to China, the Power of Siberia pipeline, came online December 2. By 2024, the pipeline is expected to deliver 38 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually. This triumph for Moscow will be greeted warily in Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan has dominated deliveries of gas to China since the first arm of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline was completed in 2009. Turkmenistan’s gas exports to China rose from just under 4 bcm in 2010 to over 33 bcm last year, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, making it China’s single-largest source of natural gas and accounting for 27 percent of China’s total gas imports. One would think this kind of monopoly over China’s gas demand would afford Turkmenistan some leverage in setting prices. But while Turkmenistan does not publicly discuss how much it earns from its sales to China, analysts reckon the price is […]