Gazprom, CNPC to Sign Gas Supply Deal By End 2013

Gazprom and CNPC agreed to step up the negotiations on Russian natural gas supply via the eastern route with a view to sign a gas purchase and sale contract by the end of 2013.

This deadline was set according to the decision of the Russian-Chinese Intergovernmental Commission on Energy Cooperation headed by Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Wang Qishan, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Gazprom said in a statement.

The parties confirmed the previously arranged basic parameters of Russian gas export to China, including the volume of delivered gas, the starting date of supplies and their duration, gas delivery point on the border and other conditions. In the nearest future the negotiations will be continued on the expert level to reach agreements on other supply terms as soon as possible.

In addition, the parties paid attention to LNG cooperation outlooks, primarily, to the potential interaction within the Vladivostok-LNG project.

In October 2009 Gazprom and CNPC inked an agreement on major terms and conditions for natural gas supply from Russia to China. In December 2009 the Heads of Agreement on Gas Supply from Russia to China were signed.

Currently, Gazprom and CNPC are negotiating the commercial parameters of Russian gas supply projects envisaging the annual export of about 68 billion cubic meters of gas to China.