27 Sep 2010 16:57

Gazprom, CNPC sign expanded terms of gas deliveries to China

BEIJING. Sept 27 (Interfax) - Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have signed the expanded terms of natural gas deliveries from Russia to China.

The document was signed following talks between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is visiting China, and Chinese leader Hu Jintao

The legally-binding agreement sets out the key commercial parameters of the future Russian gas deliveries to China on the "western" route: volumes and dates, take-or-pay levels, the period for increasing deliveries and the level of guaranteed payments, Gazprom said in a press release.

The actual export contract is slated to be signed in mid-2011, and deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2015. Under the current understanding, the contract will be for 30 years and cover delivery of 30 billion cubic meters a year.

The two sides have now agreed everything except the price of the gas, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said.

In addition, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and CNPC President Jiang Zemin signed a protocol concerning the results of the two companies' joint technical and commercial analysis of gas processing and gas chemicals. The document lays out the options for creating gas chemical production in Russia in connection with the gas deliveries to China.

RTS$#&: GAZP