NQ:China Official: 'Breakthrough' With Russia On Gas Cooperation Likely In June
BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China and Russia are likely to achieve a "breakthrough" on natural gas cooperation by the time Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Russia later this month, Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheng Guoping said Tuesday.
Cheng said Hu will visit RussiaJune 15-18 and will be accompanied by Commerce Minister Chen Deming and Zhang Ping, head of economic planning agency the National Development and Reform Commission.
China has been in talks with Russia since 2006 to try to finalize agreements to send natural gas from Eastern Siberian gas deposits by pipeline to China.
The two countries' state energy firms--China National Petroleum Corp., or CNPC, and OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS)--signed a framework agreement in 2009 on the gas delivery. But the two sides' proposed prices were still about $100 per 1,000 cubic meters apart as of last November.
-By Aaron Back, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 8400 7799; aaron.back@dowjones.com
