Gazprom, CNPC look to progress gas pipeline

March 22, 2016
Officials from Gazprom and Chinese National Petroleum Corp. met in Beijing to discuss possible ways to supply China with Russian gas.

Offshore staff

MOSCOW– Officials from Gazprom and Chinese National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) met in Beijing to discuss possible ways to supply China with Russian gas. This was the latest of several recent meetings between prominent Russian and Chinese oil and gas companies.  

According toGazprom, the deputy chairman of the company’s Management Committee Vitaly Markelov met with CNPC Vice President Wang Dongjin to discuss the progress in its project to supply of Russian gas to China via the eastern route, particularly the construction of the Power of Siberia gas trunkline.

In May 2014, Gazprom and CNPC signed the sales and purchase agreement for gas to be supplied via the eastern route, (the Power of Siberia gas pipeline). The 30-year agreement provides for gas deliveries to China in the amount of 38 bcm annually.

Last week, Gazprom announced that it met with another Chinese major. The first meeting of the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) between Gazprom and China National Offshore Oil Corp. Ltd. (CNOOC) also took place in Beijing.

The meeting was co-hosted by the JCC Co-Chairmen Vitaly Markelov, deputy chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Chen Bi, executive vice president of CNOOC.

Gazprom said that the parties discussed the prospects for cooperation within the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed between the companies. A focus was placed on the priority areas of collaboration, namely hydrocarbon exploration and production, equipment and technology development, and the use of gas as a vehicle fuel.

At the end of the meeting the parties approved the action plans for the JCC working groups focused on a number of cooperation areas.

Gazprom is not the only Russian company strengthening its Asian ties. Rosneft, who recently announced it had begunexploration drilling off Vietnam, recently signed a deal with Chinese suppliers for the planned Zvezda yard.

03/22/2016