YAKUTSK, September 30. /ITAR-TASS/. Natural gas transportation from the Chayanda gas field in Yakutia in north-eastern Russia via the China-bound pipeline will start in 2020, deputy head of Gazprom’s Chayanda gas extraction division Viktor Selin said on Tuesday.

“We have adjusted the schedule. Transportation was earlier planned for 2018. Now, the plans for 2018 include only the work to fill to pipeline and start-up operations. Gas transportation has been scheduled for 2020,” he said. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Gazprom top managers earlier said the timeframe for the launch of the Power of Siberia pipeline might be shifted by two years, if China failed to complete the preparation of the gas infrastructure for receiving Russian natural gas. An option of rescheduling the timeframe of the gas pipeline’s launch is stipulated in a contract signed between Gazprom and China’s CNPC in May 2014. The $400 billion contract envisages the delivery of 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China annually for a period of 30 years.

The Chayanda gas field is expected to produce about 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas already in 2019 and gradually build up output to 10.4 billion cubic meters in 2020. Gazprom plans to boost gas production at the Chayanda field to 25 billion cubic meters by 2024.

The Gazprom official also said the Russian energy giant would start developing satellite deposits by 2030. Gazprom is currently drilling gas wells at the Chayanda field, which will be followed by the wells’ commercial operation.

Power of Siberia gas pipeline

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave start on September 1 to the construction of Power of Siberia gas pipeline intended to pump natural gas to the Russian Far East and China.

The Power of Siberia gas pipeline estimated at $21.3 billion is intended to pump 61 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually and will stretch over a distance of 3,968 km (2,465 miles).

The pipeline is designed to pump natural gas from the giant Chayanda oil and gas condensate deposit in Yakutia and the Kovykta gas condensate field in the Irkutsk Region in Eastern Siberia. The Power of Siberia will run along the operational East Siberia — Pacific gas pipeline, crossing marshlands, mountainous and seismically active areas.

The first stage envisages the construction of the Yakutia-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok trunk gas pipeline. During the second stage, the Irkutsk gas production center based on the Kovykta deposit will be connected with the Yakutia center based on the Chayanda field.

The gas pipeline’s first stage is scheduled to be commissioned in 2017.

The Chayanda oil and gas condensate field in the Lensky district of Yakutia was discovered in 1989. The field, one of Russia’s largest undeveloped deposits, holds about 1.45 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 93 million tons of liquid hydrocarbons. The field is expected to produce up to 25 billion cubic meters of natural gas and at least 1.5 million tons of oil annually.

The Kovykta gas condensate deposit discovered in 1987 is located in the north of the Irkutsk Region. The deposit’s reserves are estimated at 1.9 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, 2.3 billion cubic meters of helium and 115 million tons of liquid gas condensate.