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364741
Thu, 04/23/2015 - 13:12
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Russia’s parliament to ratify deal on gas supplies to China

MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. The State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, will gather for a session on Friday to discuss the ratification of an agreement on gas supplies to China, Duma First Vice-Speaker Alexander Zhukov said on Thursday. "A major issue [for the discussion at the Duma’s session] is the ratification of the agreement on gas supplies to China, which was signed last year. This is a very grandiose document on gas supply along the so-called eastern route," Zhukov said. Under the deal, Russian natural gas supplies to China will start from 2019. Initial supplies will total 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year and will gradually increase to 38 billion cubic meters annually, the Duma first vice-speaker said. The deal on Russian natural gas supplies to China is extremely important as part of bilateral strategic cooperation, Zhukov said. Power of Siberia gas pipeline Gazprom and China’s CNPC signed a landmark $400 billion contract in May 2014 on the delivery of 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China annually for a period of 30 years. Natural gas will be supplied to China via the Sila Sibiri (Power of Siberia) gas pipeline, the construction of which was launched by President Vladimir Putin on September 1. The Power of Siberia gas pipeline estimated at over $21 billion is intended to pump 61 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the Russian Far East and China annually and will stretch over a distance of 3,968 km (2,465 miles). The pipeline is designed to pump natural gas from the giant Chayanda oil and gas condensate deposit in Yakutia in northeast Russia and the Kovykta gas condensate field in the Irkutsk Region in Eastern Siberia. The Power of Siberia will run along the operational East Siberia - Pacific oil pipeline, crossing marshlands, mountainous and seismically active areas. The first stage envisages the construction of the Yakutia-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok trunk gas pipeline. During the second stage, the Irkutsk gas production center based on the Kovykta deposit will be connected with the Yakutia center based on the Chayanda field. The gas pipeline’s first stage is scheduled to be commissioned in 2017. The Chayanda oil and gas condensate field in the Lensky district of Yakutia was discovered in 1989. The field, one of Russia’s largest undeveloped deposits, holds about 1.45 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 93 million tons of liquid hydrocarbons. The field is expected to produce up to 25 billion cubic meters of natural gas and at least 1.5 million tons of oil annually. The Kovykta gas condensate deposit discovered in 1987 is located in the north of the Irkutsk Region. The deposit’s reserves are estimated at 1.9 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, 2.3 billion cubic meters of helium and 115 million tons of liquid gas condensate. Read more

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