|
|
 |
Gazprom-China Talks Slow over Price
Implementation of the export portion of the Eastern Gas Program may be delayed for an indeterminate period due to China's intractable position in negotiations over the price of Russian gas, the Ministry of Industry and Energy stated yesterday. “The very large difference in position on the price says that China doesn't need Russian gas before 2010,” deputy head of the ministry's energy policy department Vladimir Saenko commented yesterday at the fourth Russian-Chinese-Kazakh oil and gas forum in Beijing.
Under the Eastern Gas Program, approved by the Ministry of Industry and Energy on September 3, China will be unable to receive gas before 2010, no matter how much it might need it. Construction of pipelines will begin after Gazprom and China's CNPC sign an agreement on prices and will take four years to construct. Saenko's comments were meant to indicate that gas deliveries may be postponed.
Although European consumers are paying an average of $267 per 1000 Cu. m. of gas this year, China is maintaining a principle of equal spending for the use of gas and coal. Furthermore, it already has a contract with Turkmenistan for gas at $90 per 1000 cu. m. Analysts say that statements of the type Saenko made indicate a last-minute attempt to influence the conclusion of the negotiations. They also say that China could go without Russian gas altogether. The Eastern Gas Program is also a negotiating chip for talks with the European Union, whose demand for gas is growing rapidly.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 06, 2007
|
|
|
