China Eyes 80bn m3/yr from Russia: Bekri
Russian gas deliveries to China could reach 80bn m3/yr if an outline agreement to build a ‘western route’ for the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline is implemented, Nur Bekri, the director of China’s national energy administration said September 17 according to a report by Russian news agency TASS.
"We continue consultations and expect that we will get 30bn m3/yr from the ‘western route’. If we can agree on the ‘western route’, then it will be more than 80bn m3/yr,” said China's top energy official.
Bekri expressed the hope that a contract for Russian gas using that western Power of Siberia 2 route to China might be signed in 1H2019. In that event, Russian deliveries to China could reach 80bn m3/yr for all supply routes, including LNG, putting Russia in first place among China’s gas suppliers.
This week at Gastech in Barcelona, Gazprom Export chief Elena Burmistrova also mentioned the discussions about Power of Siberia 2 project. Gazprom had 93%-completed its Power of Siberia-1 (the 3,000 km eastern line) as of Sept. 5; it is due to start exporting 10-15bn m3/yr gas by late 2019 and eventually reach its full 38bn m3/yr contractual level. Russia’s energy minister Alexander Novak previously said that Russia and China have agreed to get approval for gas supplies via the western route in the shortest possible time.
Meanwhile also at Gastech, Novatek outlined plans for its two LNG projects (Yamal and Arctic) to reach an eventual combined 38mn mt/yr capacity –most of which could be expected to go to China.
Nur Bekri, head of China’s national energy administration since 2014 (Credit: Wikipedia / public domain)