Moscow and Beijing are to continue talks on planned sale of Russian gas to China on Thursday, an official within Russia's energy ministry told reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of an industry event.
A Chinese delegation will arrive in Moscow Wednesday, said Talyat Aliyev, departmental deputy head at the energy ministry "with talks to take place on April 26," he said.
Chinese vice premier Li Keqiang will head the delegation, he said, adding that commercial issues remain the key area of dispute.
Russia's official Eastern Gas program envisages the supply of 25 billion-50 billion cubic meters of Russian gas by pipeline to China and South Korea from 2020.
In September 2010, Gazprom and CNPC signed a legally binding agreement on the supply of up to 30 Bcm/year of Russian gas to China.
At the time, both sides were hoping to reach an agreement on the gas price by the middle of 2011 and sign a commercial contract by July 2011 with supplies due to start in 2015, but the parties are yet to agree on a final price.
Moscow and Beijing signed an initial agreement on gas supplies in 2006, when they agreed to build two gas pipelines. The so-called Altai pipeline system would comprise an eastern and a western route, through which nearly 70 Bcm of gas could be exported to China.
