23 Jul 2024 19:20

Energy exports from Russia to China up 4% to $46 bln in H1 - Sechin

MOSCOW. July 23 (Interfax) - Energy exports from Russia to China rose 4% year-on-year in H1 2024 to $46 billion in H1 2023, Igor Sechin, the executive secretary of the Russian presidential Commission for the Development of the Fuel and Energy Sector and CEO of Rosneft , said at the sixth Russia-China Energy Business Forum.

"As a result, our country provided almost 20% of China's energy imports in value. This figure was only 13% in 2021," he said.

Sechin said China's sustained economic growth means an increasing need for reliable and secure energy supplies. "According to IEA estimates, liquid hydrocarbon consumption in China will grow 9% by 2030. Russian companies are ready to make their contribution to ensuring energy security and energy consumption in China," he said.

Sechin said energy cooperation between Russia and China had been predestined by their geographical location and place on the world energy map: Russia produces 11% of the world's liquid hydrocarbons, and China accounts for 16% of global consumption.

He also said Russia had significantly increased oil exports to China over the past two and a half years, enabling it to become the main supplier of oil to the country, ahead of Saudi Arabia. "Russia's oil supplies to China increased 5% to more than 55 million tonnes in the first half of this year alone. For its part, China is the largest buyer of Russian oil. By our estimates, the economic benefit for China from Russian oil imports compared to purchases from Middle Eastern suppliers ranged from $14 billion to $18 billion from January 2022 to June 2024," Sechin said.

He said various options were now being considered to increase Russian oil supplies to China, including by the Northern Sea Route.

"One promising area of potential cooperation is the development of Arctic resources, where the Northern Sea Route project, the shortest route to deliver our energy resources to Asia, is developing dynamically. Navigating the NSR will require a powerful ice-class tanker fleet, which can be created in collaboration with Chinese shipbuilders and component suppliers," Sechin said.

"Russian-Chinese cooperation in the gas sector continues to develop. This year, Russian gas exports to China will reach an all-time high - about 40 billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied, reinforcing our country's status as the largest gas supplier to China (ahead of Turkmenistan and Australia). At the same time, Russia has every opportunity to increase gas supplies to 100 billion cubic meters per year or more, given our powerful resource base in Western and Eastern Siberia, as well as in the Far East," Sechin said.

China also became the largest buyer of Russian coal last year, with supplies rising 60% to more than 100 million tonnes, he said.

"In the context of the events unfolding in the Middle East, it is important to mention the security of supplies of Russian oil and other energy resources to China. A lot of the Russian oil is supplied via the ESPO oil pipeline, which in the current situation is a more reliable outlet than the Strait of Hormuz or Suez Canal, due to the increasing geopolitical instability of these regions," Sechin said.

He said that China's direct investment in Russian energy and related industries could help to bolster energy security and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

"Such investments could create a considerable synergy, because Russia is one of the few countries that consistently invests in traditional energy, and China has turned from an importer into an exporter of capital over the past few years. China's declared direct investments in new projects abroad last year rose to a new high of more than $160 billion. We hope to boost Chinese direct investment in the Russian energy sector, which is characterized by high investment returns for investors," he said.