Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, announced Friday that Russia intends to increase its gas exports to China by 48 billion cubic meters (bcm), per year through a new pipeline. The pipeline will deliver 10 bcm each year from Russia to the Far East.
Russia had previously planned to supply China with 38 billion cubic meters of oil by 2025, according to previous plans. It wasn’t immediately clear when Russia would achieve the 48 bcm bcm target.
An industry source earlier told Reuters that Gazprom, which holds a monopoly over Russian gas exports via pipeline, had signed a 30-year agreement with China’s CNPC. The first gas to flow through this new pipeline will be in two or three years.
Eastbound gas flows
Gas flow from Germany to Poland via the Yamal-Europe pipeline continued at a slow rate on Friday morning according to data from Gascade, a German network operator. This pipeline usually sends Russian gas westwards through Europe.
Gas supplies to Germany and Poland via the Yamal Europe pipeline were cut off overnight, Gascade data indicated. This raised expectations that it would soon pump gas west for its first time since December.
However, the flow of eastward gas from the pipeline, which typically accounts for 15% of Russia’s annual exports, was resumed Wednesday evening.
Since December, the section connecting Poland and Germany via the pipeline has been in reverse. This is putting upward pressure upon European gas prices.
