The Prospect of Power of Siberia 2
Late last year, 2 December 2019, China and Russia launched a gas pipeline that is more than 6,000 kilometers long, an outcome of their long-planned energy partnership. Dubbed the Power of Siberia, Russia is bringing its vast natural gas resources to energy-starved Peoples Republic of China, and in so doing signaling a strategic shift from the politically volatile west of the United States and Europe to the less sensitive People's Republic. Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the pipeline via a joint video conference in Sochi.
Now Gazprom has begun a feasibility study to construct a Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline with an annual volume of up to 50 billion cubic meters that will be pumped over the mountains and rolling plateaus of Mongolia to China.
As its relationships with Europe and the United States grow more tenuous, Russia is looking to bring its vast natural gas resources to the east. China is the world’s largest energy consumer and needs new supply sources to meet domestic demand.
The Chinese side of the line starts in northern Heilongjiang province, reaching southward to Shanghai. Demand for natural gas has risen in northern China as the government seeks to control smog by moving households away from burning coal for heat during its winter.