KazTransGas JSC said planned maintenance resulted in methane release in the Central Asia-China natural gas pipeline. Previously, geoanalytics firm Kayrros SAS reported roughly 200 tons per hour of methane released near the No. 6 compressor station of the pipeline. However, KazTransGas said the release involved just 12.8 metric tons of methane and was within emissions quotas. Kayrros, which uses data from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite, said the leak was observed around 100 kilometres west of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city.
The 1,833-kilometer pipeline mostly transports natural gas from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China. Multiple studies found frequent underreporting by operators and governments about methane releases from oil and gas infrastructure. Kayrros has used satellite data to spot methane plumes in countries such as China, Canada, and Australia and made the public acknowledge them.
