MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is discussing a major new infrastructure project to transport gas to China via Mongolia, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday as Moscow hopes Beijing will replace Europe as Russia’s biggest gas buyer.
At a meeting with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsan Namsrai Oyon-Erden, which was broadcast today, Putin added that Russia is currently negotiating the possible implementation of a major infrastructure project, adding that it is about the supply of Russian gas to China through the territory of Mongolia. .
The two leaders were speaking at an economic forum in Russia on the same day that Putin threatened to cut off energy supplies if the West imposed a price ceiling on Russia’s oil and gas exports.
Russian gas giant Gazprom has been exploring the possibility of building a new gas trunkline called Power of Siberia 2 for years to transport gas to China via Mongolia.
Gazprom says the proposed pipeline could transport 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year or all at once via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany.
The existing Power of Siberia pipeline, which connects Russia to China, opened in late 2019 and has an annual capacity of 61 billion cubic meters per year.
On the eve of the Ukrainian crisis, Putin signed a new 30-year contract to supply gas to China. In 2021, Russia exported 16.5 billion cubic meters of gas to China.
Putin also announced today that the Russian state oil company Rosneft has reached an agreement with the Mongolian government to expand cooperation on the supply of petroleum products.
