According to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) quarterly review of the global gas market, the volume of Russian gas supplied to Uzbekistan via pipeline could increase by more than 40% by 2026 – from 7 billion to over 10 billion cubic meters.
Russia continues to boost exports to Uzbekistan through the Central Asia-Center main gas pipeline system, which transits Kazakhstan. Data from the National Statistics Committee shows that in 2025, the value of gas imported from Russia and Turkmenistan decreased by 1.2% to $1.66 billion. However, the physical volume of Russian gas supplies rose by 14.9% – from 5.64 billion to 6.48 billion cubic meters.
The increase in imports comes as Uzbekistan's domestic gas production continues to decline. According to the IEA, in January-May, natural gas production in Uzbekistan fell by 14% or 2.6 billion cubic meters compared to the same period last year. The agency attributes this decline to the deteriorating ability of existing fields to maintain previous extraction levels.
For comparison, gas production in Turkmenistan remained almost unchanged during this period. In Kazakhstan, commercial gas production, according to IEA estimates, decreased by about 8% or more than 1 billion cubic meters.
Overall, gas production in Eurasia began to recover in the first half of the year after a 3% decline in 2025. Preliminary data shows growth of about 2.5%, mainly due to Russia. The IEA expects production in the region to increase by 2% by the end of 2026.
Gas demand in Eurasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) could rise by about 3%. One of the reasons was the colder winter months at the beginning of the year. However, production in the region remains 9% below the 2021 level.
On the global market, the IEA forecasts a decline in natural gas demand of about 0.5% or 20 billion cubic meters. This would be the third annual decline this decade after 2020 and 2022. One of the main reasons cited is the conflict in the Middle East and restrictions on gas transportation through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the crisis accounted for about 20% of global LNG supplies. Due to the shortage, gas prices in Europe rose by 32% year-on-year in the second quarter, while spot prices for such gas in Asia increased by 45%.
The newspaper previously reported that in January-May, Uzbekistan imported natural gas worth $724.7 million – 84.1% more than in the same period last year. At the same time, the updated statistics for the five months of 2025 turned out to be $108.1 million higher than in last year's report. Gas exports fell by almost a third.
Source: www.gazeta.uz