BEIJING, November 9 (RIA Novosti) — Russia and China have signed 17 documents Sunday, including the memorandum on the delivery of Russian natural gas to China via the so-called "western route".
The memorandum on the delivery of Russian natural gas to China via the western route, the framework agreement on gas supplies between Russia's Gazprom and China's CNPC and the memorandum of understanding between the Russian energy giant and the Chinese state-owned oil and gas corporation were among the documents signed Sunday in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
According to the Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, the documents signed by Russia and China on Sunday define the western route as a priority project for the gas cooperation between the two countries.
"First of all these documents stipulate that the "western route" is becoming a priority project for our gas cooperation," Miller said, adding that the documents provide for the export of 30 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to China annually for a 30-year period.
Miller noted that with the increase of deliveries via the western route, the volumes of Russian gas supplies to China may exceed the current levels of export to Europe in the medium-term perspective.
The western route will connect fields in western Siberia with northwest China through the Altai Republic. Second and third sections may be added to the pipeline at a later date, bringing its capacity up to 100 billion cubic meters a year.
