Xi Jinping provides Putin lifeline with 30-year gas deal after Germany Scholz cuts Nord Stream 2

[xizhimen]

Xi Jinping provides Putin lifeline with 30-year gas deal after Germany Scholz cuts Nord Stream 2​

CHINESE PREMIER Xi Jinping may have handed Vladimir Putin a lifeline as the countries sign a major gas deal that could undermine western sanctions.​

By ANTONY ASHKENAZ
15:45, Tue, Feb 22, 2022 | UPDATED: 15:47, Tue, Feb 22, 2022

Western powers imposed fresh sanctions on Russia as last night Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine after declaring them as independent entities. Russian military vehicles have been spotted rolling into the Ukrainian city of Donetsk shortly after Mr Putin ordered troops to conduct a "peacekeeping mission", reports claim.

Amid the sanctions imposed by the US and UK, German chancellor Olaf Scholz ordered the withdrawal of a key document needed for certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

The pipeline would have sent Russian gas to Germany, bypassing Ukraine and Poland on the route through the Baltic Sea.

However, experts now warn that Mr Putin may be handed a lifeline that will lessen the impact of the sanctions he now faces in Europe and North America.

Earlier this month, Russia agreed on a 30-year contract to supply gas to China via a new pipeline.

According to industry officials in Beijing, the Russian state-backed oil corporation Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, agreed to supply Chinese state energy major CNPC with 10 billion cubic metres of gas a year.

Danil Bochkov, an expert on Russia, Europe and China said that this deal would be very useful for Mr Putin in the face of these sanctions.

He said: “So now, Russia- China recently concluded gas and oil projects which would elevate Russia to #1 supplier of China by 2050 come in extremely handy.”

Earlier he noted: “New gas and oil projects serve as testimony to the growing Russia-China energy alliance since they are expected to make Russia [the] biggest gas supplier to China.

“While 25 per cent of all oil produced by the Russian state-owned energy giant Rosneft will now go to China.”

Russia already pumps gas to China through its Power of Siberia pipeline, which began the flow of energy in 2019, and by shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Last year, it exported 16.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to China.

Mr Bochkov warned that this new alliance “signifies that the future of global politics will be driven by the ideological competition for the role of prime architect of a new world order, with Moscow and Beijing already keen to co-produce the blueprints.”

Map of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline (Image: Stefan Sauer/ DPA/ PA Images)

Meanwhile, various Western powers have promised sanctions against Russia.

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen has warned of “massive economic sanctions”.

US President Joe Biden of “severe consequences” and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of sanctions to "individuals and companies of strategic importance to the Russian state".

But Brandon Weichert, a geopolitical analyst told Express.co.uk that China can provide relief from sanctions as the pair now have close ties.

He also made clear that Russia’s status as an “energy superpower” may make it immune to certain sanctions.

Xi Jinping provides lifeline to Putin with 30-year gas deal

CHINESE PREMIER Xi Jinping may have handed Vladimir Putin a lifeline as the countries sign a major gas deal that could undermine western sanctions.

www.express.co.uk

https://www.express.co.uk/news/scie...ny-nord-stream-2-ukraine#conversation-wrapper

 

[Ravenman]

Outsmarting? Putin will lose the EU-market and win the Peking-market so netto win will be zero.

I dont think Putin likes this, because Europeans pay more than China does for gas. Chinese are smart traders and never give you the price your product deserve. Its that Putin relies on Chinese dollars, otherwise Europe was a far better market.

Russian sports team will be banned from European tournaments, not just football, bit every sport. That alone will be a disaster. You really think Russians like to play in Chinese or Pakistani or Indian tournaments or against Bangladeshi or Vietnamse teams?

Dream on. This is a big headache when all your famous sporters and your youth gonna be banned from the most prestigious tournaments and events.

Lets not start about the bancairy system, all those Russian banks and billionaires losing ther money, savings, markets, property, stocks.

Maybe your Xi 'Winnie the Pooh' Jinping can help Putin with that to. Both are genius.

 

[xizhimen]

Outsmarting? Putin will lose the EU-market and win the Peking-market so netto win will be zero.

I dont think Putin likes this, because Europeans pay more than China does for gas.

As the world biggest gas importer, China can easily make up the share for this market. let EU enjoy their freezing winters.

 

[xizhimen]

Europe Faces Harsh Reality of Finding Russian Gas Irreplaceable​

• Diverting LNG may spread crisis to Asia: BCS Global Markets
• Russia can’t be replaced by one supplier unilaterally: Qatar

ByAnna Shiryaevskaya
and Isis Almeida
February 2, 2022, 5:52 PM GMT+8

Energy-rich countries from Qatar to Azerbaijan have all pledged emergency gas supplies to Europe, but the region is quickly figuring out it can’t replace top supplier Russia.

Ongoing tensions over Ukraine and the threat of a potential conflict interrupting energy flows to Europe have overshadowed the continent’s gas market in recent weeks, causing volatile price swings. War could interfere with the massive volumes that Russia sends to the continent, about a third of which come through Ukraine.

To mitigate the risk of supply disruption, the European Union is speaking with major producers, seeking partnerships and even potential fuel swaps with Asia, where the market is twice the size of the bloc’s. Recent arrivals of liquefied natural gas have helped to ease tightness, as has mild weather, but Europe relies on Russia for more than a third of the gas it uses, and sourcing that fuel from elsewhere could spread the crisis to other regions.

“Europe has no alternative to Russian gas,” said BCS Global Markets Senior Analyst Ron Smith. “You would have to divert half of the LNG that Asia consumes in order to replace Gazprom PJSC. And what would that mean? That would mean massive energy shortages all across Asia, you would export Europe’s energy crisis to Asia.”

Supply Diversions​

The volume of gas the EU needs can’t be replaced by any one supplier unilaterally without disturbing deliveries to other regions, Qatar’s energy minister Saad Al-Kaabi said Tuesday after a call with the bloc’s Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson.

He added that Doha’s supply contracts are “sacrosanct in Qatar,” and the nation’s priority is to fulfill the needs of its existing customers first. Guaranteeing Europe’s energy security will require a collective effort from a number of different suppliers, he said.

For any prolonged disruption lasting through next two winters, Europe would have to curb demand, researchers at the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank said in a blog. And that uncertainty is likely to keep prices high as competition for LNG intensifies.

“As long as the situation in Ukraine is unclear and unresolved, European buyers will be willing to pay enough to attract flexible LNG cargoes to make sure inventories do not run dry,” said Oystein Kalleklev, chief executive officer of LNG shipowner Flex LNG Ltd.

Because gas infrastructure is expensive, most of the world’s volumes are typically sold under long-term contracts between sellers and buyers. Flexible deliveries from the U.S. could help, but only if the price is right.


The U.S. was the biggest LNG supplier to Europe last month and, together with other nations, helped displace Russian gas supply by a few percentage points in January, according to senior European Commission officials.

But that isn’t guaranteed to last. Europe has been the most profitable region to send the super-chilled fuel to since the end of last year but usually it’s Asia, the world’s fastest-growing market. If China’s appetite for gas re-awakens, tankers will be quick to abandon Europe and head eastward.

Filling the Gap​

Meanwhile, Gazprom’s daily gas exports via pipeline plunged to its most important markets in January, to the lowest since early 2015, despite the company producing more of the fuel.

On the EU’s radar is also Azerbaijan, the Caspian nation that started sending gas to Europe at the end of 2020. Its deliveries to Europe, Turkey and Georgia are about a 10th of volumes Gazprom sells to its main export markets, and that supply was pre-sold almost a decade ago to help finance production and pipelines.

“Reality is Azerbaijan is not a competitor to Russian gas simply because of the volumes,” Elin Suleymanov, the nation’s ambassador to the U.K., said in an interview last week. “We could help with some deliveries but Azerbaijan volumes are not equal to the Russian volumes, that’s obvious. That’s something which also needs to be thought of by our Western partners.”

For now, Europe relies on the LNG that’s been arriving at its shores, helping to ease high prices. By May, Asia is set to regain its spot as a premium export market for U.S. cargoes of the fuel, according to BloombergNEF calculations.

“This idea that ‘we will fill the gap with LNG’, no, you can’t. It’s physically impossible to do, there’s not enough LNG in the world to do that,” Smith said.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[Ravenman]

According to Chinese Communist State Propaganda Russia is the only country in the world with gas reserves.

Winter is almost over, spring is coming. Enough time till nextvwinter make a deal with the countries below and provide aid for gas infrastructure.

 

[xizhimen]

According to Chinese Communist State Propaganda Russia is the only country in the world with gas reserves.

Who said it?

 

[xizhimen]

EU is not sanctioning Russia, it's sanctioning itself. Without sufficient energy support, the future economy growth looks very gloomy for Europe. but anyway this will help strengthen China's domination in global supply chain. we've got nothing to complain, it's their choice.

 

[RogerRanger]

Russia-China-Iran is a very powerful partnership. I didn't realize that Iran had a GDP over 1 trillion as well. So They are all rich countries. However they are all dependent on exports for money.

 

[xizhimen]

China is the world biggest trader, exporter, and China is also the world biggest consumer market, so China is pretty much self sustainable, her economy is highly independent, the only thing China lacks is energy and raw resources, Russia and Iran fit the bill perfectly.