Culminating years of negotiations Gazprom Management Committee Chairman Alexey Miller and the CNPC Vice President Wang Dongjin signed in Moscow this week the Heads of Agreement for a 2600 km, 56 inch pipeline from Russia to China via the western route. With Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping looking on, the document outlines the main technical and commercial parameters of the future supplies.

Miller said that "the western route will provide access to the vast resources of Western Siberia for the Chinese market. The resource base is available. Gazprom will be able to start supplies upon completion of the gas pipeline, estimated to be in 2019. The designed capacity of the pipeline would be 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) natural gas annually and the total costs of the whole project is expected to be up to US$14 billion.

In the meantime, the western route will not affect the Power of Siberia (POS) project. The intergovernmental agreement on the eastern route is ratified. Gazprom will fulfill its obligations right on time,” said Alexey Miller.