The pipeline deal is at risk Russia-China, on which Moscow is banking to compensate for lost gas sales to Europe. According to what the Financial Timesthe negotiations on Power of Siberia 2 would have stalled because the Kremlin considers Chinese demands on gas price and supply levels to be “unreasonable”.
According to rumors, China would have asked to pay for the supplies with a figure close to the prices of domestic market Russian, which however are heavily subsidised, and furthermore it would have committed to purchasing only a small fraction of the expected annual capacity of the pipeline, which is approximately 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The project was blocked due to price issues
Russia has been in talks for years to build the Power of Siberia-2, and in May 2024 the Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak he had shown himself confident about a possible signing of the contract “in the near future”.
The Russian president Vladimir Putin went to China on May 16 and 17, 2024, for the first state visit after his re-election, and on that occasion, a Beijingsigned with the Chinese president Xi Jinping a joint statement on deepening global partnership relations and strategic cooperation on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Kremlin: the negotiations will continue
After the indiscretions, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskovwas quick to convey the Russian position through the Tass agency, underlining that «the talks will continue because it is the political will of the leadership of the two countries” and referring precisely to Putin and Xi Jinping, who in the bilateral declaration declared that they wanted to continue “the dialogue on energy”.
Peskov also spoke on the state of commercial negotiations in progress. “They are confidential, but it is absolutely normal for each country to protect its own interests,” he said, “We have no doubt that all the necessary agreements will be reached.”
The gas rises again
Meanwhile, the price of gas is recording a double-digit increase. Monday 3 June i gas futures Dutch benchmark rose by more than 11%, reaching 39 euros to MegaWatts, the highest level reached since the beginning of the year.
The cause lies in the unplanned outage of the Norwegian gas processing plant Nyhamnademonstrating how Norway has now become a key supplier to Europe, after the majority of Russian gas pipeline deliveries were almost eliminated following the invasion ofUkraine and EU countries have reorganized themselves by diversifying supplies and strengthening storage. The Norwegian energy giant Equinor is investigating the origin of the problem, without being able to currently make predictions about recovery times. Gas prices are also affected by the decline in LNG (liquefied natural gas) imports in Europe due to the increase in demand in Asia. (All rights reserved)
Posting time: 03/06/2024 14:27
Last update: 03/06/2024 14:49
