China Set to Restart Russian Gas Talks

摘要

With Chinese gas demand soaring on the back o f tougher government policies promoting coal-to-gas switching, talks with Russia's Gazprom look set to reopen in 2018 on a deal to pipe gas to western China. The first contract to supply eastern China with up to 38 billion cubic meters (3.7 billion cubic feet per day) via Russia's new Power o f Siberia pipeline was signed in May 2014, with deliveries set to start in 2019 (WGI May28' 14). State-owned China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) had been holding off on talks over the second deal for up to 30 million tons/yr after domestic demand slumped (WGI Aug. 19' 15). But with gas demand reviving, a CNPC source tells World Gas Intelligence that negotiations "will restart next year due to both sides having a need to make the deal."