Putin comments on planned new mega gas pipeline
All stakeholders in the planned Power of Siberia 2 pipeline – which will deliver Russian gas to China through Mongolia – are behind the project, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Tuesday.
The Russian president was speaking during a meeting with his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.
“We have significant projects, multifaceted, including jointly with the People's Republic of China, I mean, for example, the construction of a gas pipeline system through Mongolia to China. All parties want to participate, want to work [in this project]. It's a matter of implementation, I think we will move at a good pace,” Putin noted.
The proposed pipeline would bring gas from the Yamal peninsula, which, prior to the Ukraine conflict, used to serve the EU market through several pipelines, including Nord Stream, whose flows shrank before it was blown up last September.
Natural gas from the fields in Western Siberia will flow to China, the world's top energy importer and a growing gas consumer, traversing Mongolia.
The mega gas pipeline project is designed to transform energy flows across Asia, as Russia is steering towards greater energy cooperation with Beijing and other eastern markets.
Moscow intends to increase pipeline gas supplies to China by 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually via Power of Siberia 2, while the existing Power of Siberia pipeline is due to provide 38 bcm a year by 2025.
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