Report: Petrochina to build part of Sila Sibiri by end of 2019

MOSCOW, Aug 24 (PRIME) -- Chinese oil and gas company Petrochina, a unit of CNPC, will build a section of the Sila Sibiri gas pipeline on the country’s territory until the end of 2019, Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing Petrochina Vice Chairman and President Wang Dongjin.

He also confirmed that Russian gas supplies to China will start until the end of 2019.

Russian gas giant Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said in July that Gazprom and CNPC signed an agreement, under which gas supplies via Sila Sibiri will start on December 20, 2019.

Gazprom said on Wednesday that construction of Sila Sibiri is going ahead of schedule; around 979 kilometers of the pipeline have been built so far and over 1,300 kilometers will be built until the end of 2017.

In 2014, Gazprom and CNPC signed a contract which envisages that gas supplies via the eastern route, or the Sila Sibiri pipeline, would begin in 2019. Gazprom plans to provide China with 38 billion cubic meters gas per year over 30 years. The company will start supplies via the pipeline with 5 billion cubic meters of gas, and the pipeline will reach its full capacity in several years.

End