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Moscow and Beijing inked an MoU to build the long-stalled Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, Reuters reports, citing a Gazprom statement. The pipeline will be capable of supplying China with up to 50 bn cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year from Russia’s Bovanenkovo and Kharasavey gas fields in Yamal, northwestern Siberia. The investment ticket and cost-sharing have not yet been decided.
The pair is also upping current flows: Russia’s state-owned Gazprom also signed an agreement to boost its China-bound supplies via the existing Power of Serbia pipeline — stretching from Eastern Siberia to China — to 44 bcm per year, up from 38 bcm, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Russian media outlets. Gazprom will also raise the supplies conveyed by its Far Eastern route to 12 bcm from 10 bcm, Miller reportedly said.
What’s next? The pair will negotiate the price for gas supplies that will be pumped through the new project, with the investment ticket to be determined afterwards.
Why it matters? The agreement comes at a time when the US is considering wider sanctions on Russia and hounding major economies, such as India, to reduce their Russian energy imports. “The message is: China is no longer even pretending to comply with U.S. sanctions or care about what the West thinks. And it’s not alone,” the China research chief at Oxford Institute for Energy Studies Michal Meidan told Reuters.
REMEMBER- Europe is no longer the leading importer of Russian oil and natural gas and has been superseded by Chinese and Indian refiners. European Importing has become increasingly difficult amid increased US sanctions. Meanwhile, LNG has usurped Russian natural gas as Europe’s top imported fuel, aided by heightened imports from the US, Qatar, Algeria, and Nigeria.
As things stand today: Russian natural gas now comprises 18% of European imports, down from 45% in 2021, Reuters reported. The bloc’s oil imports from Russia have fallen to 3% from around 30% since 2021. The EU aims to fully cease Russian energy imports by 2027, the outlet reported.
