China has completed the construction of the last section of the Eastern Route gas pipeline, through which gas from the Siberian Power will reach Shanghai, on the southeast coast of China. Without its launch, the Chinese company simply will not be able to accept the entire contracted volume of Russian gas. The project was completed seven months ahead of schedule, so Gazprom and CNPC previously postponed the start of maximum supply until December this year.
“On November 18, after welding the last joint in Haimen, Jiangsu Province (across the Yangtze from Shanghai), the Sino-Russian Eastern Route gas pipeline project, an important eastern energy corridor in China, was completed.” . – reports the Chinese newspaper PipeChina. The company indicated that the final stage of commissioning the gas pipeline has already begun.
“The final section of the project was completed 7 months ahead of schedule,” PipeChina said.
Gazprom put the Siberian Power into operation in December 2019. However, the full capacity of the contract was to be reached in 2025. This was due both to the fact that Gazprom continued to develop the Chayandinskoye and Kovyktinskoye fields and the construction of a gas pipeline that would cross all of China to the industrial region in the east of the country.
The total length of the continuation of the “Siberian Power” in China will be more than 5 thousand kilometers. Of them, 3.37 thousand kilometers are new gas pipelines. PipeChina said bringing the pipeline to Shanghai would weaken China’s dependence on LNG and partly reduce gas costs.
“Currently, pipelines have been put into operation from Heihe in Heilongjiang province on the Russian border to Taixing in Jiangsu province, and the entire line is expected to be completed by the end of this year. To date, more than 78 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been safely and uninterruptedly transported along the Sino-Russian eastern route.” — reported in PipeChina.
The company noted that the new gas pipeline will be the first in the country built with ultra-large diameter pipes: 1422 mm. In addition, technological innovations have made it possible to build pipelines in areas of numerous rivers and water networks.
“The southern section of the China-Russia eastern route crosses 79 large and medium-sized rivers and roads, as well as more than 1,200 small rivers and ditches.” – noted in the Chinese company.
Obviously, the September decision by Gazprom and the state-owned company CNPC to early bring the daily gas supply to China through Power of Siberia to the maximum contract level is also related to the earlier completion of the construction of the gas pipeline to China.
“At the meeting, an additional agreement was signed to the contract for the purchase and sale of gas on the eastern route. In accordance with the request of the Chinese partners, the parties agreed on additional supplies in December 2024. Therefore, early delivery of daily gas supply to China via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline will be guaranteed up to the maximum contract level ( this was previously planned to be done in early 2025).” – Gazprom reported.
This year, Russian gas pipeline supplies to China should amount to 30 billion cubic meters, and next year to 38 billion cubic meters. Following the launch of the Far East route in 2027, Gazprom’s exports to China should increase by another 10 billion cubic meters per year. This year, exports to China have already exceeded the Russian company’s supplies to Europe.
