Gazprom Halts Pipeline Gas Deliveries To China For A Week

Gazprom will suspend natural gas deliveries via the Power of Siberia pipeline to China between September 22 and 29 due to scheduled preventive maintenance, the Russian gas giant said on Tuesday. 

The Power of Siberia pipeline went into operation at the end of 2019, after eight years of construction. 

Under the sales and purchase agreement between Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for gas supply via the route, preventive maintenance of the equipment along the pipeline is carried out twice a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, Gazprom said today. 

Russia and China plan another major pipeline to carry Russian gas to China, but it will take years to complete and commission. 

China and Russia have grown their energy cooperation closer, as Russia is looking east to sell its energy that is now being shunned and sanctioned in the West. China, for its part, has been the main beneficiary of the biggest change in energy trade flows in recent memory as Russia pivots to Asia to sell the oil and coal banned in the West and looks to build another major natural gas pipeline to China. 

Russia has said it will increase further its shipments of oil to Asia after the G7 finance ministers announced a price cap on Russian oil and fuels, to enter into effect from December 5, 2022, and February 5, 2023, respectively. 

Early this month, CNPC signed a deal with Gazprom related to the Power of Siberia gas pipeline from Russia to China. Gazprom, for its part, said it discussed with CNPC the progress of the project for Russian gas supplies to China via the Far Eastern route.   

The Russia-China ties were cemented during last week’s meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping—the first such summit since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  

By Tsvetana Paraskova  for Oilprice.com

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