Gazprom, CNPC sign deal on supply of Russian gas to China

Russian oil and gas behemoth Gazprom has signed an agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the biggest state-owned oil and gas company of China, on the supplies of Russian natural gas to China, the Itar-Tass new agency reported on Monday.

"On December 22-27, Gazprom's delegation, led by deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev, held the final round of discussions with CNPC relevant to arranging Russia's gas supplies to China via the western and eastern routes," the agency quoted a Gazprom information department official as saying.

A memorandum on Russian-Chinese cooperation in the natural gas sphere was signed in June, during Chinese president Hu Jintao's official visit to Russia.

"Based on the results of the negotiations and in compliance with the previously reached agreements between Gazprom Export and a subsidiary of CNPC, PetroChina International, the sides signed the agreement on major terms and conditions for the supplies of natural gas from Russia to China," the official said.

Under the western option, gas will be supplied from West Siberia, while under the eastern route, gas will be pumped from East Siberia, the Russian Far East, and offshore Sakhalin deposits.

Early this month, a Gazprom spokesman said that Russia's future natural gas exports to China would be equivalent to around one-third of its Europe-bound gas supplies.