Turkmenistan says to export 38 bcm of gas to China this year

State-run Turkmengaz chairman Myrat Archayev said gas exports to China via the Central Asia-China pipeline "will be increased by about 3 billion cubic metres" from last year's total, which he said was 35 bcm.

Officials in authoritarian Turkmenistan very rarely disclose economic data and Archayev's comments may be an effort to boost investor confidence in an economy that depends on hydrocarbons for over 90 percent of exports.

Archayev also said that exports to Turkmenistan's only other notable natural gas customer Iran would remain stable at 7 bcm this year despite a long-running price dispute between the pair.

Russia, once Turkmenistan's main buyer, stopped imports from the country at the beginning of 2016, leaving the country strongly dependent on Chinese demand.

Chinese payments for Turkmen natural gas are believed to be pegged to global energy prices, which are currently low, and set against the cost of construction of the China-Central Asia pipeline financed by Beijing.