Russia's Gazprom has agreed with China National Petroleum to increase gas flows on the Power of Siberia pipeline to full capacity by the end of this year, earlier than expected.
"At the request of our Chinese partners, the parties have agreed on additional supplies for December," Bloomberg quoted Gazprom's statement.
According to Gazprom, this "will ensure an early increase in daily gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline to the maximum contract level".
Previously, the target date for increasing gas supplies through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline to the maximum level was early 2025.
Gazprom has been gradually increasing exports on the Russia-China gas pipeline. The Siberian power has a design capacity of 38 billion cubic meters per year.
In the first eight months of this year, Gazprom increased supplies via the Power of Siberia to about 20.8 billion cubic meters, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Chinese customs data and the Russian Economy Ministry. That’s close to the 22.7 billion cubic meters of gas Russia shipped to China in 2023.
Gazprom is also developing another pipeline to transport gas from Russia's Far East to China. The Russian producer said construction of the pipeline, with a design capacity of 10 billion cubic meters per year, is on schedule. Gazprom had previously said it would start construction in 2027.
A third gas pipeline between Russia and China, the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, is still being discussed. Power of Siberia 2 could increase Russia's annual gas supply to China by nearly 100 billion cubic meters. However, negotiations to build the mega-pipeline have stalled because Russia and China have yet to agree on a gas price.
