Gazprom to start building new major gas trunk lines in near future - CEO
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY. Feb 20 (Interfax) - Gazprom will start building new major gas pipelines in the near future, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin in the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on the Rossiya 1 television channel on Sunday.
"As for the diversification of routes, this is always a useful thing, and you can't put your eggs in one basket. Of course, we are thinking about new markets, we have very, very many resources, and for many, many years," Miller said.
"It is clear that in the very near future we will launch new major projects to build gas trunk lines. And we all understand very well that the Asian market is currently the most booming market in the world. Consumption volumes are growing, and we see very high prospects for Russian gas on this market," the company's CEO said.
Gazprom noted that the global demand for natural gas is also on the rise. Over the last 30 years since 1993, the global consumption of natural gas has almost doubled. The countries in the Asia-Pacific region (APR) account for over a third (35%) of the growth.
The global gas consumption is expected to keep increasing in the next 20 years and it may exceed the 2022 levels by approximately 20% by 2040. The APR countries will account for more than a half of the growth, and China will be the driving force (the main center of development).
For the past 20 years, Gazprom has been working on the projects to increase export supplies of Russian pipeline gas to the East, primarily to China, the most rapidly growing natural gas market in the world.
Gazprom is systematically developing strategic cooperation with China. Since 2019, the company has been supplying gas to Chinese consumers via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. The supplies under the long-term contract will be 38 billion cubic meters per year after the pipeline reaches its full capacity.
In February 2022, the second long-term gas sales contract was signed. In total, 10 billion cubic meters of gas will be annually delivered to China via the Far Eastern route. The infrastructure is being designed. Russia and China signed an intergovernmental agreement to implement this project.
The talks are continuing over a project to supply up to 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas yearly to China via Mongolia. The gas pipeline is being designed. Russia may become China's largest gas supplier in the near future, the company said.