Gazprom Softens On China Gas Price

摘要

In a sign Gazprom may be working harder to reach a compromise on gas sales to China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), the Russian gas giant confirmed this week that the Japanese Crude Cocktail (JCC) will not be used as the pricing benchmark. This looks like a U-turn, as Gazprom had earlier said it wanted to use the JCC, although the statement from Alexander Medvedev, Gazprom's deputy chief executive and head of Gazprom Export, doesn't necessarily mean the company intends to abandon all oil-indexation, including other crudes or oil products. Medvedev also reiterated that the price won't be linked to US Henry Hub gas, despite CNPC's earlier push for the linkage. "We are looking into how to replace JCC, but I don't want to go into it further," Medvedev said on the sidelines of the Sakhalin Oil and Gas Forum. "Certainly, it will be neither Henry Hub nor JCC."