Photo: gazprom.ru
Gazprom and Kazakhstan have signed a memorandum on the construction of a new main gas pipeline from Russia to the republic, the Russian energy company’s press service announced.
The document was signed during a working meeting between Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar at the 14th St. Petersburg International Gas Forum. “The parties confirmed their commitment to long-term cooperation, taking into account Kazakhstan’s growing demand for natural gas,” the statement said.
“The new document is not yet legally binding. The key issues for turning it into a full agreement will be the price Kazakhstan is willing to pay for Russian gas and whether there will be sufficient demand for such volumes in the country’s northeast,” journalist Oleg Chervinsky commented on his Telegram channel.
In February of this year, the Russian government issued an order for the construction of a main gas pipeline to supply fuel to northern and northeastern regions of Kazakhstan. The project envisions a pipeline capacity of 10 billion cubic meters and compressor stations with a total capacity of 50 MW.
The gas is expected to be supplied from fields in Western Siberia.
One of the previously proposed routes envisioned the pipeline running from Russia through northeastern Kazakhstan and on to China. Discussions of this option are ongoing, according to Kazakh officials. However, experts have questioned its feasibility since Gazprom and China’s CNPC signed a legally binding memorandum on the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline and a transit route through Mongolia.
