MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Thursday that it was working on the design of infrastructure for a gas pipeline from the Sakhalin region in Russia’s Far East to China.
Russia and China agreed in early 2022 to boost supplies of Russian gas via the new pipeline, which would export 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year.
Russia currently supplies gas to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline, which began operations in December 2019. It is due to supply 22 bcm in 2023, increasing to full capacity of 38 bcm a year by 2025, under a 30-year contract worth more than $400 billion.
Gazprom also said on Thursday that it and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) had signed an addendum to the deal on gas exports via the Power of Siberia for additional gas volumes to be supplied by the end of 2023.
It did not disclose further details.
Russia also hopes to secure a major deal to bring another 50 bcm a year to China via a new project, Power of Siberia 2, through Mongolia. However, the talks have been long and painstaking as key issues, such as the price of the gas, remain elusive.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Tuesday that he believed the Power of Siberia 2 would move ahead at a “good pace”.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Mark Trevelyan)
