Alexey Miller, chairman of the Gazprom management committee and Zhou Jiping, chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have signed a contract (22 May) for the supply of pipeline gas from Russia to China. The parties signed the document in the presence of Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping at a summit meeting in Shanghai.
The agreement is expected to deliver some 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year to China's burgeoning economy, starting around 2018, and represents the biggest contract in the entire history of Russia and Gazprom - over 1 trillion cubic metres of gas will be supplied during the contractual period.
No official contract value has been revealed but it is estimated to be worth over $400bn. The necessary investment in new infrastructure is said to be the biggest investment project on a global scale. USD 55 billion will be invested in the construction of production and transmission facilities in Russia. An extensive gas infrastructure network will be set up in Russia's eastern region.
The new deal has been 10 years in the making. More recently, Russia has been keen to find an alternative energy market for its gas as it faces the possibility of European sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.
Photo: Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller (centre) and CNPC chairman Zhou Jiping shake hands as Russian President Putin looks on during the signing ceremony in Shanghai
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