MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. Gazprom and China's CNPC have agreed to bring Russian gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline to maximum ahead of schedule - from December 2024 instead of early 2025, the Russian holding company said in a statement.

Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and CNPC Chairman of the Board of Directors Dai Houliang held a working meeting in Beijing on Friday.

"A supplementary agreement to the gas sale and purchase agreement via the eastern route was signed at the meeting. In accordance with the request of the Chinese partners, the parties agreed on additional supplies in December 2024. This will ensure an early increase in daily gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline to the maximum contract level," the statement said.

Gazprom planned to bring Power of Siberia to its design capacity of 38 billion cubic meters of gas from January 1, 2025. In 2023, the holding increased gas supplies to China via the gas pipeline by 1.5 times, to 22.7 billion cubic meters, and by the end of the current year they could amount to 30 billion cubic meters, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said earlier. Gazprom ensures reliable supplies via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, regularly exceeding daily contractual obligations, the company stresses. Construction work on the "Far Eastern" route is also being carried out according to the planned schedule, with supplies planned to start in January 2027.

Power of Siberia is the largest gas transportation system in Russia’s east. Gazprom's total exports to China will reach 48 bln cubic meters of gas per year (due to the implementation of the project for gas supplies to China via the Far Eastern route) in the coming years, and almost 100 bln cubic meters per year considering the transit gas pipeline through Mongolia, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said earlier. Miller said later that China was considering the possibility of increasing Russian gas supplies through the Power of Siberia beyond the design capacity of 38 bln cubic meters.