In the vast desert of Marey Oblast, Turkmenistan, a "tough battle" that will affect energy supply for the next 20 years has just begun. On April 17, 2026, the fourth phase of the Fuxing Gas Field project officially began construction, with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and senior officials from Turkmenistan jointly laying the foundation. Just four days later, CPECC, a subsidiary of China Petroleum Engineering, officially signed the super contract worth 4.614 billion US dollars (approximately 31.649 billion yuan).

For the CPC engineering team, which has been fighting overseas for many years, this is not only a commercial victory, but also the implementation of the national energy strategy. The project manager sighed at the signing site, "This is the largest single project we have won in the Central Asian market. In the next five years, a super factory with an annual processing capacity of billions of cubic meters will emerge here

Build a 'Super Gas City' in 51 Months

The core task of this record breaking contract is to build a commercial gas production capacity of 10 billion cubic meters per year for the fourth phase of the Fuxing Gas Field. The project is located in the Galjinesh (Renaissance) gas field, one of the world's largest continental gas fields, with a contract validity period of 66 months, including a construction period of 51 months.

A "hardcore" list with billions of production capacity:

Build a new seventh natural gas processing plant with an annual processing capacity of 10 billion cubic meters. Build a complete internal gathering and transmission system and cross-border export pipelines to ensure the "flow" of natural gas to China. Constructing self owned power stations, water source pipelines, living camps, and highways and railways from scratch in the desert to solve the survival problems of thousands of builders.

This is not only a national key project in Turkmenistan, but also a crucial step for CNPC Engineering to transition from a "contractor" to a "global energy solution provider". After the completion of the project, the annual production of Fuxing Gas Field will soar from 35 billion cubic meters to 45 billion cubic meters, significantly consolidating China's onshore resource base for natural gas imports.

300+days of extreme polishing

Behind winning the 'biggest order in history' was an extreme bidding battle that lasted for over 300 days. Since August 2024, when Turkmenistan's natural gas company Konzern released its tender documents, CPC Engineering and CPECC have formed a joint team with Chuanqing Drilling to tackle the challenges.

Key timeline:

May 2025: The first round of business negotiations begins, with the team repeatedly reviewing costs and optimizing quotations.

July 2025: Submit final quotation and successfully shortlist as a candidate.

September 2025 March 26: Entered a period of deep negotiations, grinding down technical standards and commercial terms one by one for six months.

April 2026: Complete all contract terms signing and final implementation.

The difficulty of bidding lies in "precision". The bidding team must accurately assess the complex geological conditions and policy standards in the local area, while ensuring technological leadership and controlling costs within a highly competitive range. The ultimate victory proves the comprehensive strength of CPC Engineering in integrating investment, construction, and operation in the Central Asian market.

The 'ballast stone' of onshore energy channels

In the current turbulent global energy landscape and increasing risks in maritime transportation channels, Turkmenistan's natural gas is directly connected to China through onshore pipelines, becoming the most stable energy "ballast stone". At present, China accounts for 90% of Turkmenistan's natural gas sales market, and the fourth phase of the Fuxing gas field is the core of this supply chain expansion.

Upgrading the 20-year cooperation:

Over the past 20 years of natural gas cooperation between China and Turkey, the bilateral trade volume has exceeded 93 billion US dollars, and this project will continue to set this record. The project is deeply linked with China's the Belt and Road Initiative and Turkmenistan's "Revitalizing the Silk Road" strategy, which is a landmark achievement of the upgrading of energy cooperation between the two countries.

In addition, the project also introduced digital intelligent monitoring and large capacity compressor units to solve the problem of stable production in complex formations in the middle and later stages of the gas field. This is not only a construction project, but also a concentrated display of Chinese technology and standards in the energy field of Central Asia.

With the official signing of the contract on April 21st, engineers from CPC Engineering have arrived in the Marezhou Desert one after another. In the next 51 months, they will light up this 31.6 billion yuan "energy heart" on this hot land with sweat and wisdom.Editor/Yang Meiling