Putin Commits to Gas Supplies for China
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans Tuesday to step up energy supplies to China with a gas pipeline opening within five years, but there was no word of an agreement to build a separate pipeline sought by Beijing to deliver Siberian oil to China.
A Russian minister said Moscow would finance a feasibility study for the oil pipeline and can't offer a construction timetable until the study is done.
The announcements came after Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, met for the fifth time in less than a year and pledged to promote political and trade ties between the former Cold War enemies, which say their relations are at their best point ever.
The gas pipeline will deliver up to 2.8 trillion cubic feet of gas annually, Putin told reporters. He didn't give any details about its route or pricing. But Russia's Interfax news agency, citing an unidentified source in his delegation, put the possible cost at up to $10 billion.
Moscow and Beijing want to spur investment and double last year's $29 billion in trade by 2010.
China is a leading buyer of Russian oil, which for now is delivered by railway tank car, and is the top foreign customer for Moscow's arms industry.
Many observers had expected news about the 2,550-mile Siberian oil pipeline to the Pacific coast. Both Tokyo and Beijing have maneuvered hard to secure a favorable routing.
"There can be no talk of 'when' until a feasibility study is completed," said Viktor Khristenko, Russia's minister of industry and energy.
In a 13-page statement, Putin and Hu pledged to promote links between their energy, telecom, transportation and other industries. Putin also endorsed China's claim to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing says is part of its territory.
Putin said gas for the new pipeline would come from fields in both eastern and western Siberia.
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