Officials in an eastern Kazakh region say gas exports to China from the area's only natural-gas producing facility were halted on January 1 amid an expiring deal and local complaints that some villages were without gas while its fuel was being sent abroad to China.

 

A contract on the export of gas between the local Tarbagatai Oil company that operates the gas mine at Sarybulak and the Kazakh Energy Ministry reportedly expired on December 31 despite reports that it never fulfilled the 75 million-cubic-meter order.

 

A regional official had announced a suspension in July, citing the depletion of gas reserves in the Zaisan Basin.

 

But activists had complained recently that locals were undersupplied during the bitterly cold Central Asian winter.

 

A Tarbagatai representative said the company "cannot say for sure" whether the gas-export route from Sarybulak to China will be reopened.