Putin, Xi Jinping to Launch Power of Siberia Pipeline

Russia has started gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline on December 2. The official opening ceremony was held on Monday and was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping via a TV link-up.

The gas pipeline’s total length is about 3,000 km. Its capacity is 61 bln cubic meters of gas per year, including 38 billion cubic meters for export. The route of the gas transmission system is along the operating East Siberia - Pacific Ocean main oil pipeline, making possible to optimize infrastructure and power supply costs.

Over 2 years of cooperation with Gazprom, the Zagorsk Pipe Plant, a Metal-Expo regular exhibitor, has produced 1.2 million tons of pipes. The company's products are used in the construction of the Power of Siberia gas trunkline. The Zagorsk Pipe Plant began production of large-diameter pipes (from 530 to 1420 mm) in May 2017 specifically for its key customer, Gazprom. At the beginning of 2018, the company gained the right to make supplies for large-scale gas transmission projects.

Chayanda and Kovykta gas fields with reserves of 1.2 trillion and 2.7 trillion cubic meters of gas respectively are the resource base for the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. Development of the Chayanda’s gas pool started in 2015. The design production on the field is planned as 25 bln cubic meters of gas annually. Production on the Kovykta field will start after 2022. Its production will also be 25 bln cubic meters of gas per year.

The ‘eastern route’ agreement (from Blagoveshchensk to China) was signed with CNPC on May 21, 2014. The total price of the contract on annual supplies of 38 billion cubic meters of gas to China amounted to $400 bln.