Gazprom said that it has been given the nod from Russian President Vladimir Putin to move ahead with the pre-investment phase of the second stage of the Power of Siberia project.
Considered to be the largest gas transmission system in Russia’s East, the Power of Siberia project is being developed in three phases.
The first phase comprises nearly 2,200km of pipeline laid from the Chayandinskoye field in the Yakutia region to Blagoveshchensk at the Chinese border. It began operations in December 2019 by supplying Russian gas to China.
Details of the second stage of the Power of Siberia project
The second stage of the Power of Siberia project will involve the construction of an 800km long pipeline section from the Kovyktinskoye field in the Irkutsk region to the Chayandinskoye field. The Kovyktinskoye onstream is slated to be brought online in late 2022.
The Chayandinskoye field, which has reserves of 1.2 trillion m3 of natural gas, is the basis for the Yakutia gas production centre. On the other hand, the Kovyktinskoye field, which has reserves of 2.7 trillion m3 of natural gas, will be the basis for the Irkutsk gas production centre.
According to Gazprom, the third stage of the Power of Siberia pipeline project will call for expansion of gas transmission capacities between the Chayandinskoye field and Blagoveshchensk. This will include the construction of the Amur Gas Processing Plant near the Chinese border, which will have a design capacity of 42 billion m3 of natural gas per year.
The approval of the pre-investment phase of the project’s second stage enables Gazprom to begin the development of a feasibility study and the design-and-survey works.
Upon its full completion, the Power of Siberia project will have an export capacity of transporting 38 billion cubic meters of gas per year. In May 2014, Gazprom signed a sales and purchase agreement with CNPC to buy the Russian gas delivered by the pipeline for 30 years.
