Beijing: Russia and China broke the ice in their long-cool energy relationship on Monday as they prepared to open a pipeline that will bring Siberian crude oil to China, but a similar agreement on gas proved a bridge too far.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao attended a ceremony to mark the completion of the Chinese branch of the East Siberian-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, which is set to start bringing 300,000 barrels per day across the border on Jan. 1, 2011.
The Chinese branch is part of a bigger project that will eventually pipe oil to the Pacific Ocean, a design long seen as an attempt by Russia to counterbalance China with other buyers, such as Japan, as a market for its energy in the east. and oversees the country's energy and metals industries. "Secondly, Russia has all the gas needed for China's economic development."
"All elements of partnership are being considered: infrastructure, routes, deposits, shipments and cooperation in the financial sphere."
