China has decided to build a joint project with Turkmenistan instead of the russian Power of Siberia gas pipeline
putin's attempts to negotiate an increase in gas supplies to China have reached a dead end
Instead of the 50 billion cubic meter Power of Siberia 2 project, which the Kremlin has been promoting for over 7 years, Beijing has decided to prioritize a new gas pipeline from Turkmenistan.
Source. This was reported by Reuters, citing sources among high-ranking Chinese officials and representatives of the country's oil and gas industry.
Although Turkmen gas costs China 30% more than russian gas, and negotiations on a discount with Ashgabat have failed, Beijing has given the green light to the Line D project, which will import 30 billion cubic meters from Turkmenistan annually.
According to a senior Reuters source, state-owned oil and gas corporation CNPC last week began developing a feasibility study for a 200-kilometer interconnector from the Xinjiang provincial border with Kyrgyzstan to the Chinese city of Wujia as the first receiving point.
"This means that Line D is being prepared," the source said, adding that construction of the domestic line in China could begin next year.
In 2022, China imported 35 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan through three existing pipelines, paying $10.3 billion for it.
russian deliveries through the Power of Siberia pipeline launched in 2019 amounted to 16 billion cubic meters, and their cost was 2.5 times lower – about $4 billion.
At a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin in March, russian dictator vladimir putin proposed to increase gas flows by 6 times, to 98 billion cubic meters per year.
Although putin called Xi a "dear friend" and spoke Chinese to toast his health, the long-awaited gas contract was never signed.
Background. In addition, it became known that China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan will build a railroad to Europe bypassing russia.
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