Putin looks east for Russian gas purchases: press
Russia's president Vladimir Putin has promised his country will increase gas exports to eastern partners to cover losses as European countries scale back contracts in response to the Ukraine war, Reuters reported on April 14.
Putin told a televised government meeting that Asia could take more Russian gas to compensate for the loss of European business. He also warned that European countries would struggle to wean their economies off of Gazprom's supplies entirely.
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"What's astonishing is that the so-called partners from unfriendly countries concede themselves that they won't be able to make do without Russian energy resources, including without natural gas, for example," he said.
Russia commenced gas supplies to China via Gazprom's 38bn m3/yr Power of Siberia (PoS) pipeline in 2019, after years of negotiations that resulted in CNPC bargaining a significant discount. CNPC recently clinched a second long-term contract to buy 10bn m3/yr from Gazprom over a 30-year period, with supplies set to begin in 2024 to 2025 through an alternative Russia - China route, rather than PoS.
The Chinese oil and gas company had previously felt it could source enough gas in LNG form, and on a more flexible basis than piped imports.
China's hand is expected to be further strengthened as Moscow is increasingly isolated over its actions in Ukraine, but Russia also has LNG contracts to supply India and other east Asian economies. It also delivers modest gas quantities to central Asia.