DUSHANBE, March 16, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- Over the first two months of this year, Uzbekistan has shipped some 45 million cubic meters of natural gas to Tajikistan – more than 30 million cubic meters were shipped in January and nearly15 million cubic meters were shipped in February, according to the  Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI).

An official source at a MoEI says Uzbek gas is mainly distributed to industrial enterprises and a few part of it is distributed to residential customers.

He added that the quota of Uzbek natural gas for the first quota was 45 million cubic meters.  It means that Tajikistan consumed the quarterly quota of natural gas in two months.

The source noted that the price of Uzbek natural gas for the first quarter of 2012 was set the rate of 300.00 U.S. dollars at 1,000 cubic meters.

We will recall that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan signed an agreement on Uzbek natural gas deliveries to Tajikistan for this year on January 6, 2012.  Tajikistan reportedly plans to buy some 200 million cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan this year.

The gas prices vary quarterly depending on the world trends and Tajikistan must make prepayments every ten days.

In the first quarter of 2011, Tajikistan bought natural gas from Uzbekistan at US$227.85 per 1,000 cubic meters, while the price for the second quarter was US$249.19 per 1,000 cubic meters.  In the third quarter, Tajikistan bought natural gas from Uzbekistan at US$284.33 per 1,000 cubic meters and the price for the fourth quarter was US$311.00.

In 2010, an average price of 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek natural gas for Tajikistan was US$240.00; in the first quarter of 2010, the price of 1,000 cubic meters of Uzbek gas was US$231.00 and in the fourth quarter, it rose to US$254.00.