Russia Backs Pipe through Mongolia: Mongolian PM
Russia supports the construction of a pipeline through Mongolia to carry its gas to China, Mongolian prime minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh said during talks in Moscow on December 3, according to the Kremlin’s website.
“We are pleased that Russia supports the project to build a gas pipeline from Russia to China across Mongolia,” the Mongolian leader said during a meeting with Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. “I believe this project has been effectively launched today.”
Khurelsukh also met with Gazprom head Alexey Miller later that day. In a terse statement on its website, the Russian gas exporter said the pair had discussed prospects for energy co-operation between the two countries. The Mongolian government also issued a statement announcing it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Gazprom, but no details of the agreement were divulged.
Russia brought on stream its first pipeline to China, the $55bn Power of Siberia, on December 2, which at full capacity will supply 38bn m3/yr of gas. Serious discussion on routing a second pipeline through Mongolia appears to have begun in early September, when officials from Gazprom and China’s state oil and gas group CNPC met for talks in Beijing. Russian president Vladimir Putin later ordered Miller to consider options for transporting gas through Mongolia, stating that the plan had support from China.