Power of Siberia-2, the gas pipeline the Kremlin craves and that brings Xi and Putin together

Power of Siberia-2 is planned as a 2,600+ kilometer pipeline connecting Russia’s Arctic gas extraction area on the Yamal Peninsula to Beijing and Shanghai. The project is intended to complement Power of Siberia-1, which has been operating since 2019 and already carries 38 bcm of gas annually. When completed, Power of Siberia-2 would transport nearly 50 bcm per year, and together the two pipelines would supply about one-fifth of China’s gas demand. For China, the pipeline would lower future energy costs and reduce reliance on the contested global LNG market. For Russia, it provides a viable outlet for volumes previously sold to the European Union before the invasion of Ukraine.

"Power of Siberia-2 is set to change two things forever: global natural gas flows and the already solid alliance between China and Russia. A few loose ends remain before it becomes reality, but after Tuesday's meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, the road appears paved for the pipeline that will link the Yamal Peninsula one of the world's largest gas fields with Beijing and Shanghai to come to fruition."

"For China, it offers a way to lower its future bill by supplying one-eighth of its domestic needs for a fuel key to its industry and reducing its need to turn to the highly contested global liquefied natural gas market (LNG, which is shipped by tanker). For Russia, which faces a domestic economic situation that is anything but reassuring, it is the only viable outlet to move the volumes it used to sell to the European Union before the invasion of Ukraine."

"The project's aim is to connect Russia's main gas extraction point, deep inside the Arctic Circle, with some of China's main economic hubs. In short, it will complement Power of Siberia-1, active since 2019 and already carrying 38 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year the equivalent of the demand of a country like Spain. When ready, its bigger sibling will be able to transport nearly 50 bcm, almost as much as Italy consumes in a year."

"Together, the two pipelines will cover one-fifth of China's demand. The idea for Power of Siberia-2 goes back two decades, when another official visit by Putin to Beijing he has made 25, by one count planted the project's first seed. After years of dormancy, the stigma attached to Russian gas in the W"

Read at english.elpais.com