On October 28, during the 13th regular meeting betweenChinese and Russian Prime Ministers, witnessed by Premier Wen Jiabao and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, CNPC and Transneft signed anagreement on principle for the construction and operationof a crude pipeline.
According to the agreement on principle, on the foundation of Phase I project of Russia's Far East pipeline, China and Russia shall jointly construct and operate the Russia-China Crude Pipeline which extends from the Siberian city of Skovorodino to Daqing in China, passing China's border city of Mohe.
The pipeline is about 70 kilometers long in Russia and 960 kilometers in China. Rosneft and CNPC will sign a new long-term oil purchase and sales contract after the completion of the pipeline, thus realizing the long term cooperation in crude trade between the two countries.
China andRussia will formally sign a contract within the year on the time of the pipeline construction, long term cooperation in crude trade, and integration of upstream and downstream businesses. The two sides will also further promote the jointly invested exploration and development project in Russia, as well as an integration project to establish a joint venture refinery in China.