According to the Financial Times, Russian monopoly Gazprom has stepped up plans to build a new gas pipeline, the Power of Siberia 2 (PS2), to China. It will transport 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Moreover, it is the Kremlin's only real hope for compensating for some of the lost exports to Europe.
Points of attention
- Chinese officials have been relatively quiet about the pipeline, raising doubts about the progress of the project, but Gazprom is determined to make it a reality.
- The Power of Siberia 2 pipeline is crucial for both Russia and China, promising to provide China with cost-effective gas supply while establishing a strategic energy partnership between the two countries.
"Power of Siberia 2" is under construction
A statement on this occasion was made by Serhiy Vakulenko, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
According to his data, it is highly likely that Russian engineers carried out work on preliminary engineering design.
What is important to understand is that we are talking about preparing "hundreds of volumes" of technical documentation.
According to the expert, such design can reach 5% of the total cost of a project of this scale, and expenses can amount to up to 10% of the total amount.
Journalists note that the total budget of the project is not currently disclosed.
Experts have suggested that the upper limit fluctuates around $30 billion.
At the same time, Chinese officials have been relatively quiet about the pipeline, leading some observers to doubt that the project is actually moving forward.
Russian monopoly Gazprom still hopes that Beijing will eventually change its position on this issue.
This will still be the cheapest gas for them [the Chinese] — that's why Gazprom is ready to invest serious money, and I don't think they're making a big mistake.
