Gazprom Breaks Ground on 2nd Power of Siberia Section
Russia's Gazprom has begun laying the second 800-km section of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, running between the Kovyktinskoye field Irkutsk to the Chayandinskoye field in Yakutia, the company said in its corporate magazine on November 2. It also said that China was upping its nominations, meaning an increase in flows in October.
Chayandinskoye has been flowing gas to China via Power of Siberia since December last year, but the completion of the new section will enable Kovyktinskoye to contribute flows as well. Gazprom reportedly picked contractor Stroytransneftegaz to lay the pipe in June.
The pipeline will pass through rough terrain, characterised by permafrost, tectonic faults, mountains, forests and swamps, and cross under the Lena river, Gazprom said. The area is remote, with no settlements or roads along the pipeline's route.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Power of Siberia was expected to pump 5bn m3 of gas to China this year, with supplies rising to 10bn m3 in 2021 and 15bn m3 in 2022. They are scheduled to plateau at 38bn m3/yr in 2025.
China's CNPC, which agreed to buy Power of China's gas under a $400bn deal reached in 2014, said this week it expected to double volumes from the pipeline to 28mn m3/day in January, equivalent to 10.22bn m3/yr. This indicates that the original schedule for increasing supplies is being followed.
Average daily deliveries in October were 16.9% higher than in September and the total volume amounted to 117.2% of the planned figures for the month owing to increased nominations from the Chinese side, Gazprom said.