Strategic Energy Map

Gas field

Galkynysh (formerly South Yolotan)

Turkmenistan. World's second-largest gas field.

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Overview

Turkmenistan. World's second-largest gas field. ~21.2 tcm reserves. Feeds Central Asia-China pipeline. Potential anchor for TAPI pipeline. CNPC involved in development.

Geopolitical context

Turkmenistan's reserves are enormous but effectively captive to a single buyer — China, which takes ~90% of exports via the Central Asia-China pipeline. This gives Beijing extraordinary leverage over Ashgabat's economy and foreign policy. The TAPI pipeline (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) has been proposed for decades but Afghanistan's instability prevents construction. If TAPI were built, it would diversify Turkmen export options and provide Pakistan/India with a non-maritime gas supply — but the Taliban governance and India-Pakistan tensions make it improbable near-term. Russia previously bought Turkmen gas cheaply and resold it to Europe; Moscow cut purchases in 2009, pushing Ashgabat toward China.

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