Gazprom chief reports progress on ‘world’s biggest project’ with China

Russia is prioritizing energy supplies to Asia since the EU has cut itself off from Russian fuel under pressure from the US

Russia and China have advanced plans for the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline, which will transit Russian gas from Siberia to the Asian powerhouse, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said Tuesday.

Miller is in China this week as part of a Russian delegation led by President Vladimir Putin, who on Tuesday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh for trilateral talks in Beijing.

At the meeting Xi highlighted the importance of “hard connectivity” through cross-border infrastructure for shared development.

The power of Siberia 2 project, which transits Mongolia, moved forward after the participants signed a “legally binding memorandum,” Miller told reporters. The project will be the “biggest, largest-scale and capital-intensive project in the world’s gas industry,” Miller said.

Power of Siberia 2 is intended to connect gas fields of western Siberia with consumers in western China. The section passing through Mongolia, known as the Soyuz Vostok pipeline, would also allow supplies to be sold to Mongolian buyers.

Talks on the pipeline have been underway since at least 2006, with route options and pricing terms repeatedly debated. Officials said the project is expected to deliver 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually for at least 30 years.

China has become the leading buyer of Russian pipeline gas after the European Union declared reliance on Russian energy a threat to its member states and moved to cut imports. The EU’s policy shift – promoted as a response to Moscow’s role in the Ukraine conflict – aligned with long-time US efforts to boost American liquefied natural gas exports to Europe.

The Power of Siberia 1 pipeline, which was launched in 2019, has already delivered over 100 billion cubic metres of gas to China from eastern Siberia. Miller said Moscow and Beijing have agreed to significantly increase the supplies.

Gas presently being delivered to China – and to Mongolia in the future – is objectively cheaper than supplies previously sent to Europe thanks to shorter transportation routes, Miller noted.

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