Gazprom has said it expects supplies to Beijing to reach full capacity ahead of schedule
Russian energy major Gazprom set a new daily record on December 7 for gas deliveries to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline, the company announced on Sunday.
Gazprom boosted exports compared to what had previously been planned for the month at the request of the Chinese, the company said. It is the eighth time Gazprom has surpassed its daily supply record since the beginning of the year.
Russia agreed to provide 38 billion cubic meters of gas annually to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline from 2025 under a bilateral long-term contract.
Gazprom said it expects that by the end of 2024 its gas deliveries to China will exceed annual contractual obligations, pushing supplies via the pipeline to their maximum volume of 38bcm a month ahead of schedule.
“We see demand for Russian gas in the growing Chinese market and the important role that Russian gas plays for a stable energy supply to the Chinese economy,” said the CEO of the energy giant, Aleksey Miller. “Long-term contracts between Gazprom and CNPC strengthen the good neighborly relations of our countries.”
China currently gets most of its Russian gas through this mega pipeline, which is a section of the so-called Eastern Route. It 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 project is a part of a $400 billion, 30-year agreement inked between Russia’s Gazprom and China’s National Petroleum Corporation in May 2014.
Russia rerouted its energy exports to Asia after it lost buyers from EU countries in 2022 due to the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and Western sanctions.
