Russia and China ironing out new gas megadeal – deputy PM

Moscow and Beijing are actively working on the implementation of the Power of Siberia 2 energy project, which was among the issues discussed during President Xi Jinping’s official visit to Russia this week.

That’s according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak, who spoke to Izvestia news agency on Tuesday about the proposed megadeal.

“The project has support. Companies have been instructed to work out the details of the project and sign it as soon as possible,” he said.

It is envisaged that the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline will supply 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas each year, which Novak described as a volume that would “completely replace the Nord Stream energy network.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated during his meeting with the Chinese leader on Tuesday that almost all parameters of the agreement on the new gas pipeline had been agreed.

He also stressed that energy cooperation between the two countries has been growing, with Russia becoming a strategic supplier of oil, gas, coal and electricity to China.

The Power of Siberia 2 project involves the construction of a gas pipeline to China through the territory of Mongolia.

China currently gets most of its Russian gas via the Power of Siberia pipeline, which has an annual capacity of 38 billion cubic meters. It is a section of the so-called Eastern Route, which was partially launched in December 2019, becoming the first pipeline to supply Russian gas to China. The Eastern Route includes the 3,000km-long Power of Siberia pipeline in Russia and a section in China that extends to 5,111km (3,175 miles).

The mega pipeline is part of a $400 billion, 30-year agreement between Russia’s Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation, which was inked in May 2014.

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