Power of Siberia gas pipeline beckoning Chinese consumers

Construction of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline has entered its final stage. The pipeline is the first of its kind that directly connects the vast natural gas fields of Russia with consumers in China.

It is scheduled to annually deliver 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas over the next 30 years. Almost 99 percent of the Russian part of the pipeline is finished and now final works are underway close to the Russian town of Blagoveshchensk, where Power of Siberia crosses into China.

We visited Blagoveshchenskin the middle of March. A strong but yet not unexpected blizzard greeted us with temperatures plunging as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. That's something not uncommon here in the middle of March. And yet this is just a small example of the tough and difficult elements that builders of the pipeline had to endure.

At that moment they were laying the last remaining pipes on the Russian side, every day inching closer to China.To get here the Power of Siberia had already crossed 3,000 kilometers of some of the most inhospitable terrain on the planet. Its journey will continue on the other side of the border where ultimately it will deliver natural gas to energy-hungry China.

In the wake of massive energy shift that China has embarked upon– switching from coal and oil to more eco-friendly natural gas– this pipeline is just what China needs.It will bring gas to areas of the country that are not accessible to the LNG or LNG ships and from just across the mutual border without any possibilities for any meddling by third parties. As Dimitriy Abzalov,a political analyst from Moscow told us, the pipeline is highly beneficial for China.

"China is interested in having gas through the pipeline, which is directly connecting producer with the consumer. If tomorrow the U.S. 'colleagues' want to pressure, for instance, Huawei again, or gas prices in Europe are more attractive to them, then their LNG ships will turn away from China. So, in order to have energy stability, China is interested in having reliable deliveries of the natural gas through the pipelines."

Power of Siberia 2 – Already on the horizon

But Power of Siberia is not just in the interest of China.For Russia it means further diversification of natural gas deliveries, which are now mainly focused on Europe, opening of the new gas fields that were not exploited before and maybe the most important, stopping the outflow of people from its Far East.Depopulation is one of the main problems for Russia's Far East and the projects like this one will surely dissuade thousands of those intending to leave for more prosperous regions.

Ekaterina Kireeva, deputy economic development minister of theAmur region, agrees that Power of Siberia will bring significant benefits to the area.

"It's a good employment opportunity and the second thing, we should consider this moment, is the good conditions for living, every day's living," she said. "Actually, if you have these two moments, you can be sure that more young people will make the right decision to stay here."

By the end of 2019, the first cubic meters of the natural gas should start flowing through the pipeline.

As this project is seen as beneficial to both sides, already on the table are deals that should lead to the construction of new gas pipelines between Russia and China, mainly Power of Siberia 2, about which a number of officials from both sides are now openly talking.

(CGTN)