Yakutsk, Russia | – The Russian city of Yakutsk hosted celebrations dedicated to the welding of the first joint of the Power of Siberia gas transmission system (GTS) on Sept. 1. The system is meant to be a crucial element of the gas supply system being built in eastern Russia. It will convey gas from the Yakutia and Irkutsk gas production centres to the Far East and China.
The celebrations were attended by prominent figures such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wang Dongjin, V.P. of China National Petroleum Corporation, and Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee.
The Power of Siberia gas pipeline will run nearly 4,000 km through five Russian constituent entities: the Irkutsk Region, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Amur Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Khabarovsk Territory and have an annual capacity of 38 Bcm.
By late 2018, a 2,200-km pipeline section will be built to connect the Chayandinskoye field in Yakutia to the city of Blagoveshchensk on the Russian-Chinese border. It is also planned to build sections from the Kovyktinskoye field in the Irkutsk Region to the Chayandinskoye field (around 800 km) and from the town of Svobodny in the Amur Region to the city of Khabarovsk (around 1,000 km). In this way, Power of Siberia will be connected to the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok GTS.
“Today the first joint of the unique Power of Siberia gas transmission system has been welded. The cutting-edge gas production and processing facility and thousands of kilometres of gas pipelines will secure first gas supplies in as little as four years. Gazprom is entering a totally new gas market of China. In full compliance with our contractual obligations, Chinese consumers will receive 38 Bcm of gas every year,” Miller said Sept. 1.
