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Bill to ratify agreement on gas supplies to China submitted to Russian parliament

The agreement specifies the main conditions of cooperation on supplies of natural gas from Russia to China via the ‘eastern’ route

MOSCOW, March 31./TASS/. The Russian government has submitted to parliament a bill on ratification of the agreement on gas supplies to China via the so-called eastern route, the government website reports on Tuesday.

The intergovernmental agreement was signed in Moscow on October 13, 2014. This agreement was a precondition for effectuation of the agreement for sale and purchase of natural gas, signed by Russia’s Gazprom gas giant and China’s CNPC corporation.

"The agreement was signed with an aim to strengthen Russian-Chinese cooperation in the energy sector and specifies the main conditions of cooperation on supplies of natural gas from Russia to China via the ‘eastern’ route, including on designing, construction and operation of the trans-border section of the pipeline," the website says.

Russia-China gas deals

A milestone event for Russia’s energy sector took place in May 2014 when gas giant Gazprom and China’s CNPC struck a major deal on gas supplies to China. The contract stipulates that 38 billion cubic meters of Russian gas will be annually supplied to China via the eastern route over a period of 30 years. The contract is worth over $400 billion. The deal between the two companies was signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing in early November Russia’s Gazprom also signed a framework agreement on gas supplies to China via the western route. A proposed pipeline, known as the Altai route, is intended to carry gas from deposits in Western Siberia to North-Western China. Gas supplies to China via that route may reach 30 billion cubic meters a year. In 2015 the countries will sign at least three key documents on that project.

Energy cooperation between Russia and China also includes the oil industry. Russia’s largest oil company Rosneft supplies oil to China under a long-term contract. The $270 billion deal with China’s CNPC was signed in 2013, and it envisages supply of about 360 million metric tons of oil to China over 25 years. This year the two energy giants agreed to deepen strategic partnership.