Gazprom, the Russian energy corporation, recently set a new daily high for gas deliveries to China through its Power of Siberia pipeline. According to a statement on Gazprom’s Telegram channel:
In early January, Gazprom increased its daily gas deliveries to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline to a significantly higher level than was agreed upon for 2024.
Gazprom, a state-run entity, didn’t disclose the exact daily amount delivered but revealed that the total gas exports through the Power of Siberia pipeline for 2023 reached a record high of 22.7 billion cubic meters.
This figure marks a significant increase from the 15.4 billion cubic meters supplied in 2022. By way of comparison, the United Kingdom’s annual gas consumption is approximately 76 billion cubic meters.
Additionally, Russia is engaged in ongoing discussions to construct a new Power of Siberia-2 pipeline. This new pipeline would transport an additional 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually from Russia’s northern Yamal region to China, passing through Mongolia.
The capacity of this proposed pipeline is comparable to that of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea, which has been inactive since it was damaged in explosions in 2022.
Following the significant reduction in European markets due to geopolitical tensions, particularly related to the situation in Ukraine, Gazprom has been augmenting its gas supplies to China.
The company is also planning to continue increasing these supplies until the pipeline achieves its maximum export capacity of 38 billion cubic meters by the end of 2025.
In related news, the European Union has recently imposed sanctions on the world’s largest diamond mining corporation and its CEO, in a move to show steadfast support for Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia. The sanctions target Alrosa, responsible for about 90% of Russia’s diamond production, along with its chief executive, Pavel Marinychev.
