Kazakhstan plans to increase oil exports to China to 6-7 million tonnes a year from just 1 million tonnes at the expense of shipments to Europe, starting from the second half of 2020, Deputy Energy Minister Aset Magauov told Reuters.

In order to do this, the Central Asian nation will reverse the domestic Kenkiyak-Atyrau pipeline that is currently used to ship crude in a westerly direction. The move will reduce transit shipments through Russia’s Transneft.

“The oil pumped in the other direction will be heavier, this will require upgrades in the form of building extra pumping stations,” Magauov said, according to Reuters.

Kazakh oil exports to China dropped to 1.3 million tonnes last year from their peak of 11.8 million tonnes in 2013 while Russia increased its own supplies to China at the same time.