Russia’s hunger for second eastern gas outlet grows

China’s rampant gas growth revives talk in Russia of Power of Siberia 2 pipeline project

Policy-driven gas demand is growing so fast in China that production and imports are struggling to keep up. The squeeze will ease when Russia's almost-complete Power of Siberia pipeline starts up, but bullish forecasts have reignited interest in a second Russia-China pipeline. Towards the end of this year, on 20 December, Russian and Chinese dignitaries will gather to celebrate the start-up of the Power of Siberia pipeline—the centrepiece of a $55bn natural gas development programme that will eventually deliver 38bn cm/yr of Russian gas to the world's fastest-growing market. The date was agreed back in July 2017 by Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), signalling their det