Gazprom CEO, and Vice Premier of China's State Council discuss prospective gas projects
ST. PETERSBURG. June 20 (Interfax) - CEO of Gazprom Alexei Miller and Vice Premier of the Chinese State Council Ding Xuexiang discussed key issues around their strategic gas partnership at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2025).
Gazprom said that the parties' cooperation in the project to supply gas to China via the "Eastern" route had been commended during the meeting, with a total of more than 100 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas exported to date.
The participants of the meeting also discussed steps for implementing the gas project along the "Far East" route. Gazprom said that the first exports were planned for 2027.
"Alexei Miller and Ding Xuexiang also discussed prospective projects in the gas industry. The parties expressed their intention of reinforcing a mutually beneficial partnership which is aimed at developing both countries' economies and prosperity among their citizens," the company said.
Miller is quoted by Gazprom as saying that "global gas consumption hit a record of 4.17 trillion cubic meters in 2024, an increase of 100 billion cubic meters". From now until 2050, worldwide demand for gas is expected to grow at rates 1.5 times faster than the growth in overall energy consumption. As such, Russian gas companies predict that global gas consumption will have grown almost a third by 2050.
"Countries from the Asia-Pacific region will play a key role in this growth. In 2024, they made up almost half of world GDP growth. In order to sustain a high rate of economic growth, the region needs to be supplied with substantial amounts of natural gas," Miller said.
The Power of Siberia pipeline began supplying gas to China in 2019 as part of a long-term sale and purchase agreement between Gazprom and the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Each year since 2020, supplies by Gazprom have exceeded annual contractual obligations. Daily supply via the Power of Siberia pipeline reached the maximum contractual level on December 1, 2024, one month ahead of the initial schedule.
A long-term sale and purchase agreement for the supply of natural gas along the Far East route was signed in February 2022. After the full ramp-up was complete, Russia's pipeline gas exports to China increased by 10 bcm to 48 bcm per year.
