# Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent Gas Pipeline
The Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent Gas Pipeline (BBSh) is a trunk natural gas pipeline in [Kazakhstan](https://www.edgepedia.org/kazakhstan) that runs about 1,450 km from the gas fields of the west of the country to the densely populated southern regions, connecting at Shymkent with Line C of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline. It is described by QazaqGaz as the largest pipeline project in the history of independent Kazakhstan.[1](https://qazaqgaz.kz/storage/app/media/korporativnye-dokumenty/en/godovoj-otchet-za-2023-god.pdf) Built as a 50/50 Kazakh-Chinese joint venture and financed largely by Chinese policy banks, it supplies domestic gas to southern Kazakhstan and enables exports to China, and a second parallel line is now under construction with a Qatari partner.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Route | Beineu (Mangystau Region) to Bozoy (Aktobe Region) to Shymkent, through Mangystau, Aktobe, Kyzylorda and Turkestan regions; actual length 1,449.5 km[2](https://bsgp.kz/en_US/%D0%BE-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8/) |
| Technical parameters | Pipe diameter 1,067 mm; design pressure 9.8 MPa on the Bozoy-Shymkent section[3](https://china.aiddata.org/projects/73384/) • [4](https://hearings.ndbecology.gov.kz/Public/PubHearings/PublicHearingDetail?hearingId=27469) |
| Capacity | 10 bcm/year originally; raised to 15 bcm/year in April 2020 with the fourth compressor station[5](https://www.gem.wiki/Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent_Gas_Pipeline) |
| Ownership and operation | Beineu-Shymkent Gas Pipeline LLP, a 50/50 joint venture of QazaqGaz (formerly KazTransGas) and Trans-Asia Gas Pipeline Company Limited (CNPC side)[3](https://china.aiddata.org/projects/73384/) • [5](https://www.gem.wiki/Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent_Gas_Pipeline) |
| Commissioning | Bozoy-Shymkent section in December 2013; Beineu-Bozoy section in November 2015, five months ahead of the April 2016 target[6](https://qazaqgaz.kz/storage/app/media/korporativnye-dokumenty/en/report-for-the-year-of-2017.pdf) • [7](https://www.kmg.kz/ru/press-center/press-releases/146/) |
| Financing | $1.8 billion syndicated loan from China Development Bank and Bank of China for Phase I (2012); $700 million for Phase II (2015); GEM reports a $2.5 billion loan agreement running to 2028[3](https://china.aiddata.org/projects/73384/) • [5](https://www.gem.wiki/Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent_Gas_Pipeline) |
| Second line | Parallel line of about 1,450 km, up to 10 bcm/year at stage one and 15 bcm/year at stage two, built with Qatari UCC Holding; construction began in 2025[4](https://hearings.ndbecology.gov.kz/Public/PubHearings/PublicHearingDetail?hearingId=27469) • [8](https://primeminister.kz/en/news/oil-and-gas-condensate-production-plan-for-2025-is-962-million-tonnes-ministry-of-energy-29764) |
## Purpose and route
The pipeline was conceived to meet three policy goals stated in the 2007 intergovernmental agreement between Kazakhstan and China on cooperation in constructing and operating the Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline: reliable gas supply to consumers in southern Kazakhstan, reduced dependence on imported gas, and diversification of Kazakh gas exports.[9](https://ojs.publisher.agency/index.php/ISS/article/view/2028) Before it was built, southern Kazakhstan depended heavily on gas imported from [Uzbekistan](https://www.edgepedia.org/uzbekistan) and [Turkmenistan](https://www.edgepedia.org/turkmenistan); the [International Energy Agency](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-energy-agency) notes that the South Kazakhstan Region has received gas from the Aktobe Region since the pipeline's completion, and that the line decreases Kazakhstan's dependency on Uzbek and Turkmen gas.[10](https://www.iea.org/reports/kazakhstan-energy-profile/energy-security)
The route starts at Beineu in [Mangystau Region](https://www.edgepedia.org/mangystau-region), where it ties into the Central Asia-Center (SAC-4) system, runs via the Bozoy gas metering station in Aktobe Region, and ends near Shymkent at the Akbulak gas metering station in Turkestan Region.[2](https://bsgp.kz/en_US/%D0%BE-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8/) • [9](https://ojs.publisher.agency/index.php/ISS/article/view/2028) Along the way it connects the western producing fields with the existing trunk systems Soyuz, Central Asia-Center, Bukhara-Ural, Bukhara Gas Region-Tashkent-Bishkek-Almaty, Gazli-Shymkent, and Kazakhstan-China, joining them into a single national gas transportation system.[7](https://www.kmg.kz/ru/press-center/press-releases/146/) The largest single section, 847 km, crosses Kyzylorda Region.[11](https://intergas.kz/en/news/4/388)
## Construction history
**Phased build.** The project company Beineu-Shymkent Gas Pipeline LLP was established in December 2010 on an equal-share basis between KazTransGas and Trans-Asia Gas Pipeline Company Limited, with a charter capital of $1 billion formed by equal contributions.[7](https://www.kmg.kz/ru/press-center/press-releases/146/) • [2](https://bsgp.kz/en_US/%D0%BE-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8/) Construction proceeded in stages. The Bozoy-Shymkent linear section (km 311 to 1,453) and the Bozoy gas metering unit, with throughput up to 2.5 billion m³ per year, were accepted in December 2013.[6](https://qazaqgaz.kz/storage/app/media/korporativnye-dokumenty/en/report-for-the-year-of-2017.pdf) The Beineu-Bozoy section (km 0 to 311) was commissioned on November 20, 2015, five months earlier than the planned April 2016 date, with KazTransGas reporting savings of about 150 billion tenge (roughly $500 million) against the planned cost.[7](https://www.kmg.kz/ru/press-center/press-releases/146/)
**Capacity growth.** The main Bozoy compressor station and the Karaozek line compressor station entered service in November 2017, bringing throughput to the project level of 6 billion m³ per year.[6](https://qazaqgaz.kz/storage/app/media/korporativnye-dokumenty/en/report-for-the-year-of-2017.pdf) Three further compressor stations were commissioned in April 2019 as part of the expansion from 10 to 15 bcm/year, and the fourth, Ustyurt (KS-1A) in the Baiganin District of Aktobe Region, followed in April 2020, completing the 15 bcm/year capacity.[10](https://www.iea.org/reports/kazakhstan-energy-profile/energy-security) • [12](https://ar2020.kmg.kz/en/strategic-report/strategy/under-investment-projects) By the end of 2017, 9.1 billion m³ had been transported since the start of operations.[6](https://qazaqgaz.kz/storage/app/media/korporativnye-dokumenty/en/report-for-the-year-of-2017.pdf)
## Financing
The project was financed mainly with Chinese loans. In December 2012 the project company signed a $1.8 billion syndicated loan with [China Development Bank](https://www.edgepedia.org/china-development-bank) and Bank of China for Phase I, priced at three-month LIBOR plus a 2.7 percent margin during the guarantee period, with repayment to March 2028 and corporate guarantees from [KazMunayGas](https://www.edgepedia.org/kazmunaygas) and CNPC.[3](https://china.aiddata.org/projects/73384/) A further $700 million syndicated loan from the same two banks, signed in September 2015, financed Phase II, the 306.3 km Beineu-Bozoy segment.[3](https://china.aiddata.org/projects/73384/) Global Energy Monitor records a 2015 loan agreement of $2.5 billion with the two banks running to 2028 for the pipeline's construction.[5](https://www.gem.wiki/Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent_Gas_Pipeline) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development also considered a $356.71 million loan, disclosed in October 2018, for modernization and expansion of the Bozoi compressor station and construction of the Kereit gas metering station.[13](https://ewsdata.rightsindevelopment.org/projects/50495-beineu-shymkent-modernisation/) Published cost estimates for the whole pipeline are around $3.6 billion in the RUSI Journal account and $3.8 billion in Kazakhstan's National Energy Report.[14](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325479813_Central_Asian_Gas_Exports_Dependency_Swapping_Russian_Patronage_for_Chinese) • [15](https://s3-prod.exia.kz/articles/NationalReport15_English.pdf)
## Role in supply and exports
The pipeline connects to Line C of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline, allowing Kazakh gas to be exported to China; the IEA reports that capacity expansion was expected to raise stable export supplies of marketable gas to China to 10 bcm per year.[10](https://www.iea.org/reports/kazakhstan-energy-profile/energy-security) Kazakhstan began exporting gas to China in October 2017 under a contract between KazTransGas and [PetroChina](https://www.edgepedia.org/petrochina).[3](https://china.aiddata.org/projects/73384/) Domestically, the pipeline gasifies settlements in the southern regions; KazTransGas stated at the Beineu-Bozoy commissioning that 577 settlements in the southern regions, home to half the republic's population, would additionally be connected to gas.[7](https://www.kmg.kz/ru/press-center/press-releases/146/)
By early 2023 the first line was running above its design capacity, at 106 percent, and Kazakhstan's Minister of Energy Bolat Akchulakov proposed developing a feasibility study for a second pipeline, citing reliability of supply for southern Kazakhstan's growing population.[5](https://www.gem.wiki/Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent_Gas_Pipeline)
## Second line
A second, parallel line of the pipeline is under construction. In May 2023, at the first Central Asia-China Summit, QazaqGaz and CNPC signed a cooperation agreement that laid the foundation for starting the second line.[16](https://intergas.kz/en/news/4/1097) After negotiations with Trans-Asia Gas Pipeline Company Ltd. failed, the second-line project became a 50/50 venture between QazaqGaz and the Qatari UCC Holding, a subsidiary of Power International Holding, under a Kazakhstan-Qatar government agreement; UCC Holding will also build two gas processing plants, the new KS-14 compressor station and the KS-14-Kostanay-Aktobe pipeline.[5](https://www.gem.wiki/Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent_Gas_Pipeline)
The project company for the new line is Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent 2 Ltd. Its environmental documentation describes a 1,450 km route laid in the same corridor as the first line, with a 1,067 mm diameter, working pressure of 9.81 MPa on the Bozoy-Shymkent section and 7.35 MPa on Beineu-Bozoy, throughput of up to 10 billion m³ per year at stage one and 15 billion m³ per year at stage two, and a design service life of at least 30 years.[4](https://hearings.ndbecology.gov.kz/Public/PubHearings/PublicHearingDetail?hearingId=27469) The Ministry of Energy planned construction to start in April 2025.[8](https://primeminister.kz/en/news/oil-and-gas-condensate-production-plan-for-2025-is-962-million-tonnes-ministry-of-energy-29764) Public hearings in Karmakshy District in 2025 gave a construction duration of 41 months, from September 2025 to January 2029.[17](https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/kyzylorda-karmakshy/press/news/details/1070499) QazaqGaz states the project is needed for energy security and gas supply to the southern and central regions, including new power projects such as the [Turkestan](https://www.edgepedia.org/turkestan) and [Kyzylorda](https://www.edgepedia.org/kyzylorda) combined-cycle gas turbines, and to maintain export volumes to China.[18](https://sk.kz/ar2025/en/oil-gas.html)
## References
1. [QazaqGaz Annual Report 2023](https://qazaqgaz.kz/storage/app/media/korporativnye-dokumenty/en/godovoj-otchet-za-2023-god.pdf)
2. [About the company, Beineu-Shymkent Gas Pipeline LLP](https://bsgp.kz/en_US/%D0%BE-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8/)
3. [Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent Gas Pipeline Project financing records, AidData](https://china.aiddata.org/projects/73384/)
4. [Public hearing notice, Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent 2 Ltd, National Environmental Database](https://hearings.ndbecology.gov.kz/Public/PubHearings/PublicHearingDetail?hearingId=27469)
5. [Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent Gas Pipeline, Global Energy Monitor](https://www.gem.wiki/Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent_Gas_Pipeline)
6. [KazTransGas Annual Report 2017](https://qazaqgaz.kz/storage/app/media/korporativnye-dokumenty/en/report-for-the-year-of-2017.pdf)
7. [KazTransGas JSC has connected the West with the South, KazMunayGas press release, 23 November 2015](https://www.kmg.kz/ru/press-center/press-releases/146/)
8. [Oil and gas condensate production plan for 2025, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan](https://primeminister.kz/en/news/oil-and-gas-condensate-production-plan-for-2025-is-962-million-tonnes-ministry-of-energy-29764)
9. [Assemgul Yerzhanova (2023), Construction of the Main Gas Pipeline "Beineu-Shymkent", Interdisciplinary Science Studies](https://ojs.publisher.agency/index.php/ISS/article/view/2028)
10. [Energy security, Kazakhstan Energy Profile, IEA](https://www.iea.org/reports/kazakhstan-energy-profile/energy-security)
11. [Kyzylorda Branch of Intergas Central Asia celebrated its tenth anniversary](https://intergas.kz/en/news/4/388)
12. [KazMunayGas 2020 Annual Report, Performance under investment projects](https://ar2020.kmg.kz/en/strategic-report/strategy/under-investment-projects)
13. [Beineu-Shymkent Modernisation (EBRD-50495), Early Warning System](https://ewsdata.rightsindevelopment.org/projects/50495-beineu-shymkent-modernisation/)
14. [Farkhod Aminjonov (2018), Central Asian Gas Exports Dependency, The RUSI Journal](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325479813_Central_Asian_Gas_Exports_Dependency_Swapping_Russian_Patronage_for_Chinese)
15. [Kazakhstan National Energy Report 2015, KAZENERGY](https://s3-prod.exia.kz/articles/NationalReport15_English.pdf)
16. [New gas projects of QazaqGaz and CNPC, Intergas Central Asia, 19 July 2023](https://intergas.kz/en/news/4/1097)
17. [Public hearings on the second line of the Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent pipeline, Karmakshy District](https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/kyzylorda-karmakshy/press/news/details/1070499)
18. [Samruk-Kazyna Annual Report 2025, Oil and Gas](https://sk.kz/ar2025/en/oil-gas.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Energy technology › Pipelines and fuel transport › Gas pipelines of Russia and the former Soviet Union*
*Initially written Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license