All news

Russia plans to sign contract on western route gas supplies to China in Q2 2015

Gas supplies to China via that route may reach 30 billion cubic meters a year

GORKI, March 18. /TASS/. Russia still plans to sign the contract on "western route" gas supplies to China in the second quarter of 2015, while the exact date will depend on negotiations, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Wednesday when answering the question whether the document may be signed in May.

"Absolutely, we target at the second quarter. We had such goals set and agreements to consider also the possibility to speed up the signing of this contract in the second quarter," he said.

"Of course, the real situation will depend on negotiations and on agreements made by the sides," the minister said, adding that this first of all concerns Russian gas giant Gazprom and China’s CNPC.

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing in early November Russia’s Gazprom 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.