The announcement was made by Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Management Committee Vitaly Markelov, who said: “By 2019, we plan to eliminate technical gaps after testing.”
The Power of Siberia pipeline is one of the biggest projects between Russia and China. Analysts say it could help Russia become one of China's main providers of natural gas as demand in the country increases.
© gazprom.com
At 3,000km, the pipeline is one of the longest in the world, longer than the distance between Moscow and London.
The pipeline’s first section will run some 2,200km from the Chayandinskoye field (Yakutia) to Blagoveshchensk (Chinese border). The second phase of the project will include the construction of a section stretching for about 800km from the Kovyktinskoye field (Irkutsk Region) to the Chayandinskoye field. The third stage provides for expanding gas transmission capacity between the Chayandinskoye field and Blagoveshchensk.
The deal on the eastern route took more than a decade to negotiate. Last July, Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) inked an agreement to start gas deliveries via the route.
In May 2014, the two companies signed a $400-billion 30-year framework to deliver 38 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to China annually.
Moscow and Beijing plan to build another pipeline – Power of Siberia 2 or the western route – that will deliver another 30 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas.
According to the head of Gazprom, Aleksey Miller, China’s growing gas consumption, which was more than 200 billion cubic meters in 2016, is soon expected to reach 300 billion cubic meters.
