Reuters: Gazprom May Use Third Party Gas to fill China Pipeline

Russia's Gazprom has held talks with a small Siberian energy firm on using its gas to fill a pipeline to China if the state-controlled giant's own projects to produce and transport the gas are not ready in time, industry sources said.

As part of Russia's strategic shift eastwards prompted by rows with the West, Gazprom agreed last year to start pipeline gas supplies to China in 2018-2019, raising them gradually after that to make China one of the biggest customers for Russian gas.

However, Gazprom has less money available to finance the scheme than it had expected because low world gas prices have hit its revenues, while sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine are making it hard to secure loans from the West.

One industry source told Reuters that Gazprom had asked the privately-owned Irkutsk Oil Company, which holds large gas reserves in the region and some infrastructure, to pledge up to 7 billion cubic meters of gas per year for Gazprom's future supplies to China. MORE