Page 129 - RusRPTOct22

Russia could still deliver pipeline gas supplies to Pakistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on September 15, according to the Russian state-owned RIA news agency. The president was referring to a 2015 agreement the two sides reached in 2015 to build a 1,110-km pipeline that would bring regasified LNG from the south to the north of Pakistan. Running between Karachi on the Arabian Sea coast to power plants in the north-eastern province of Punjab, the pipeline would have a capacity of 12.4bn cubic metres per year, potentially increasing to 16 bcm at a later stage. The North-South pipeline project was due to be kicked off in 2020, but after Russia had to replace the entity participating in it because it was targeted by Western sanctions. As it currently stands, the project is anticipated to involve Russia’s Eurasian Pipeline Consortium, steel pipe-maker TMK, and the Operational Services Centre run by Russia’s energy ministry.
The EC proposes to cap the price of Russian gas at €50 per MWh. This is five times less than the current spot price, reported Politico. The publication notes that this step may be risky because the EU must be ready to refuse Russian gas immediately. After all, the Russian Federation can completely stop its supply in response. In addition, the EC proposals include command-and-control distribution of gas among countries in case of emergencies. Last week, France supported the establishment of a price limit for Russian gas supplies and a tax on surplus profits from energy resources. At the same time, the Czech Republic wants to remove the issue of a possible ceiling for Russian gas prices from the meeting agenda of EU energy ministers, scheduled for September 9.
Deliveries of natural gas from Russia to China in August set a historical record, surpassing $400mn in value terms, according to the data published on Tuesday by the General Administration of Customs of China. According to the report, China imported $409.37 of natural gas in August. This is the highest figure since at least January 2017. The physical volume of deliveries for August was not stated in the database of the Main Customs Department. In August, gas supplies in value terms increased by 26.47% compared to July this year and by 169.9% compared to August 2021. The previous record of gas supplies volumes from Russia to China for one month was set in June of 2022 - at the time, in value terms they reached $334.27mn. In total, since the beginning of this year, Russia exported natural gas to China for a total of $2.393bn, which is 185.9% more than in the first eight months of last year.
EU energy ministers failed to agree on a price cap on Russian gas imports at an emergency meeting on September 9, per Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto (Kommersant). The European Commission reportedly was proposing to limit Russian gas prices to $540/mcm, over 4x lower than current prices. Some countries suggested limiting the price of all imported gas, including that for US
129 RUSSIA Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com