Gazprom delegation visits Beijing

BEIJING, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Beijing welcomed a delegation from Russian energy monopoly Gazprom to discuss preliminary terms and conditions for potential gas supplies to China.

Alexei Miller, chief executive officer at Gazprom, led a delegation to Beijing to meet with Jiang Jiemin, the president of the China National Petroleum Corp.

Gazprom announced the unanimous opinion to move forward with the Eastern Gas Program to create favorable conditions for bilateral cooperation in the gas sector.

Moscow in 2007 approved the so-called Eastern Gas Program to integrate gas production, transportation and supply systems in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, including Chinese and Asian markets.

Moscow appointed gas giant Gazprom as the coordinator of that effort. Gazprom has more than 40 licenses currently to use subsurface resources in the east, the company said.

Gazprom is in the process of exploration of the Krasnoyarsk and Kamchatka Krais, the Irkutsk Oblast, the Republic of Yakutia and offshore regions of the Sakhalin Island.

Gazprom said its investments in the Far East will increase by as much as 81 percent.