BEIJING, October 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and China have initialed a framework agreement on natural gas supplies from West Siberia, the Russian Far East, and offshore Sakhalin fields to China, the head of Gazprom said on Tuesday.
Alexei Miller said the deal will be signed after talks between the two countries' premiers. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, later today.
Miller said that the framework deal envisages options of western and eastern routes for supplies from Russia, and that 70 billion cubic meters of gas could be supplied to China annually.
Under the western option, an annual supply of 30 billion cubic meters would be sent from West Siberia, while under the eastern route, gas would be pumped from East Siberia, the Russian Far East and offshore Sakhalin deposits, to an annual total of 38 billion cubic meters.
"The western option can be implemented within a very short time period because Gazprom currently has a large resource base, prepared reserves and developed infrastructure in West Siberia," Miller said.
The CEO also said that next year the parties could sign a contract on deliveries of liquefied natural gas to China.
