MOSCOW, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Russian natural gas company Gazprom "made a step forward" in securing a gas transmission route to China, the company's board chairman said.
Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller met with officials from the China National Petroleum Corp. in Moscow to discuss aspects of liquefied natural gas deliveries and gas pipeline transit to China.
Gazprom said "special attention" was paid to the survey for the planned Altai natural gas pipeline.
"We made a step forward today," Miller said.
The Altai pipeline would run from natural gas fields in Western Siberia to the northern Chinese border. The planned 1,700-mile pipeline could carry as much as 1.05 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year.
Gazprom said it expects yearly Chinese natural gas demand to reach 14 trillion cubic feet by 2020. The company said it's "essential" that any long-term natural gas contract be pegged to petroleum prices.
"The Altai gas pipeline construction will start only after the gas purchase and sale agreement is inked with the Chinese party," Gazprom said in a statement.
