Gazprom and China natural gas collaboration keeps developing
Gazprom has signed three contracts with Chinese companies to conduct pre-development surveys with the intention of creating underground gas storage facilities in China’s Heilongkiang and Jiangsu provinces. They mark the latest developments in the cooperation between Gazprom and the Chinese gas market.
The announcement came after a roundtable on oil and gas cooperation was held by China’s CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) at the Belt and Road Forum. The roundtable was attended by a delegation from Gazprom.
In a speech, Alexey Miller, chairperson of the Gazprom management committee, noted that natural gas formed the basis for building a hi-tech economy. China has a similar view of the future of the energy industry, the country’s government implementing a large scale goal-to-gas programme.
Despite being one of the world’s biggest natural gas consumers, China’s energy mix only contains 6% natural gas. The government intends to raise that figure to 8.3-10% by 2020. Such demand can’t be met by domestic production alone, so Russian company Gazprom is working with the country to help realise its goals for gas market development.
The company is building the Power of Siberia gas trunkline, designed to transport gas from Russia to China via the eastern route. It was announced at the roundtable that 745km of the pipeline had already been built, with 1,009km welded in one string.
Another key development from the Belt and Road Forum saw Gazprom, CNPC and China Huaneng Group sign a memorandum of understanding to pursue joint efforts in gas-fired power generation in China.
“Gas pipelines not only bring heat to homes, but also serve as a common thread for different economies, helping them thrive and develop. There is no doubt that the steel arteries of our gas trunklines, along with transport corridors running for thousands of kilometres, will become a symbol of the ever-growing strategic cooperation and connectivity between Russia and China in the 21st century, a shining example for the rest of the world,” said Alexey Miller in conclusion of his speech at the Belt and Road Forum.
