Putin Commits to Gas Supplies for China

BEIJING – Russian President
Vladimir Putin announced plans Tuesday to step up energy supplies to China with a gas pipeline opening within five years, but there was no word of an agreement to build a separate pipeline sought by Beijing to deliver Siberian oil to China.

A Russian minister said Moscow would finance a feasibility study for the oil pipeline and can’t offer a construction timetable until the study is done.

The announcements came after Putin and his Chinese counterpart,
Hu Jintao, met for the fifth time in less than a year and pledged to promote political and trade ties between the former Cold War enemies, which say their relations are at their best point ever.

The gas pipeline will deliver up to 2.8 trillion cubic feet of gas annually, Putin told reporters. He didn’t give any details about its route or pricing. But Russia’s Interfax news agency, citing an unidentified source in his delegation, put the possible cost at up to $10 billion.

AP