Russia to ramp up energy supply to China – deputy PM

Exports via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline will continue growing to hit 38 bcm next year, Aleksandr Novak has said
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Gas exports via the Power of Siberia pipeline are expected to hit 38 billion cubic meters in 2025, according to Aleksandr Novak

Russian gas exports to China could reach 30 billion cubic meters this year via the Power of Siberia mega-pipeline, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak has said. 

The pipeline’s operator, Gazprom, supplies natural gas to Russia’s Asian neighbor under a long-term contract it sealed with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The Power of Siberia is part of a $400 billion, 30-year agreement between Gazprom and CNPC which was clinched in 2014.

“Pipeline gas supplies are growing … Next year we will reach 38 billion cubic meters. This is a contractual obligation, the maximum volume that we will reach under the contract,” Novak told reporters on Tuesday.

Gazprom has exceeded its contractual obligations on a regular basis throughout the past year, with daily records reported frequently. The Russian company increased gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia by 50% year-on-year in 2023, to 22.7 bcm exceeding Gazprom’s contractual obligations by 700 million cubic meters.

The company is projecting that gas supplies to Russia’s leading trading partner will grow further thanks to soaring demand.

Moscow and Beijing could soon sign a contract for the construction of the mega-pipeline Power of Siberia 2, which is expected to allow for up to 50 bcm of gas to be delivered annually from Yamal Region in northern Russia to China via Mongolia.

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Once all pipelines are fully operational, the volume of Russian gas supplies to China could reach nearly 100 bcm annually.

According to Novak, discussions on the implementation of the Far Eastern route for gas supplies to China are also underway.

The Far Eastern route will deliver supplies of Russian natural gas from the shelf off Sakhalin Island to China starting from 2027. Moscow and Beijing sealed an agreement for additional pipeline gas deliveries via the new route in February 2023.

China has increased imports of Russian gas and oil by 22.5% and 4.8%, respectively, in the first half of this year on annual basis, according to the country’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang.