On June 21, at the energy roundtable during the 17th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, CNPC Chairman Zhou Jiping signed a long-term agreement on increasing oil deliveries with Rosneft President and Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin, and a framework agreement on CNPC''s acquisition of a 20% stake in Yamal LNG project with NOVATEK, the second largest gas producer in Russia.
Under the oil delivery contract which is the largest single contract for crude trade in China, Rosneft will increase annual crude transportation to China via Russia-China Crude Pipeline (Eastern Line) from the current 15 million tons to 30 million tons by 2018, with a contract term of 25 years, 5 years prolongable. Oil delivery via Kazakhstan-China Crude Pipeline (Western Line) will be raised by 7 million tons per year as of January 1, 2014, with a contact term of 5 years, 5 years prolongable. Also, Rosneft will deliver 9.1 million tons of crude per year to the two companies'' joint venture refinery in Tianjin upon its commissioning. The aforementioned deals will make CNPC''s future crude import from Russia hit 46.1 million tons annually.
The Yamal LNG project in the framework agreement between CNPC and NOVATEK is located in Yamal- Nenets Autonomous District in Russia. With proven gas reserves exceeding 1 trillion cubic meters, the LNG productivity of the project is expected to reach 16.5 million tons per annum. CNPC will launch upstream and downstream integrated cooperation with NOVATEK following the agreement conclusion.
During his visit to Russia, Mr. Zhou Jiping made extensive and friendly communication with his counterparts in Russian energy sector to promote oil and gas cooperation. On the evening of June 18 upon his arrival at Moscow, Mr. Zhou had a meeting with Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee Alexey Miller. They exchanged views on signing a framework agreement regarding to the eastern gas pipeline project and the western-line integrated cooperation project, both agreeing to speed up cooperation for earlier achievements. On the 19th, Mr. Zhou paid a visit to Mr. Igor Sechin and the two sides compared notes on increasing crude delivery, upstream cooperation, the Tianjin JV Refinery, and new project development, with consensus on several issues reached.