Beijing, Dec 2 (EFE).The East Route natural gas pipeline, a 5,111-kilometer (3,175-mile) project connecting Russia with China and designed to provide up to 38 billion cubic meters of gas annually, began operating on Monday.
The project, considered the largest single-pipeline gas pipeline in China, extends from Heihe, in the northern Heilongjiang province, to Shanghai, state broadcaster CCTV reported Monday.
This gas pipeline is a critical component of China’s four strategic oil and gas corridors, divided into the northern, middle and southern sections, according to Chinese state media.
Infrastructure is essential to diversify the country’s energy sources and guarantee the supply of natural gas, especially in key regions such as the three northeastern provinces, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta.
These regions for much of the country’s energy demand.
The supply will meet the annual gas needs of more than 450 million people in nine provinces and regions, according to the State Grid Corporation.
In addition to its importance for China, the gas pipeline underlines the growing energy cooperation with Russia, which is seeking to increase its exports to Asia following Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine and the damage to its supply infrastructure to Europe.
In October, state energy giants, Gazprom of Russia and China’s CNPC reached new agreements to increase the supply volume.
This year, the Russian company will supply China with an additional 1 billion cubic meters of gas, Vitali Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, said during the International Gas Forum in St. Petersburg.
Both companies also agreed to increase daily supplies to a maximum through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, which began operating in 2019 and currently transports up to 38 billion cubic meters annually.
Following its invasion of Ukraine, the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines supplying gas to via the bottom of the Baltic Sea and the imposition of Western sanctions, Russia has sought to diversify its exports of both gas and crude oil, turning its gaze to Asia and particularly to China and India. EFE
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