Russia and China Close to Concluding a Natural Gas Supply Contract

Summing up the results of Russian-Chinese negotiations in Beijing Russian Federation Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told journalists that the two nations were close to signing a major natural gas contract, saying, "We are approaching the final stage of the work to supply natural gas to the Chinese market."
 
Russian Federation Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said that Russia and China had made significant progress in agreeing the price terms of the natural gas contract, stating, "We have made significant progress in (terms of) the price parameters," adding that a "road map" for developing gas cooperation and "an analysis of the consumption balance, supply sources and Gazprom's place in the supply structure" would be finalized before the end of October, Russkoe Informatsionoe Agentsvo Novosti reported.

As for transit volumes, Sechin stated that Gazprom could supply at least 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China annually.
 
China is now the world's largest energy consumer, while Russia is tied with Saudi Arabia for first place as the planet’s biggest energy producer. In 2009 China and the Russian Federation concluded an initial deal on Russian natural gas deliveries but the agreement faltered over pricing issues, with the Russian Federation pressing for higher fees and China demanding lower purchase costs.

By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com