September 24, 2010
Russia Says ESPO Price Stays
Russia's Deputy PM Igor Sechin denies rumours that the China National Petroleum Corp. was asking for a lower price for deliveries of crude oil from the Eastern-Siberia Pacific Ocean or ESPO pipeline. The reasoning was that since the spur into China was only 67 kilometers from the terminus why pay the ESPO price set at Kozmino far away on Russia's Pacific coast? Sechin said the official Russian-Chinese deal begins 2011 but until that time Russia would deliver 15 million tons annually at the regualar ESPO price.
With the ESPO and new Turkmenistan via Uzbekistan pipelines already open and the Myanmar(Burma) to Kunming and eventually Chongqing underway as well as crude lines potentially running through Pakistan, China is securing oil and gas deliveries free of the Straits of Malacca and more importantly the prying eyes of the US Navy off China's long and vulnerable coastline....
Labels: energy security, oil, pipeline, russia
April 08, 2010
Vladivostok Increases Ties with Heilongjiang
The mayors of Vladivostok and Suifenhe, Heilongjiang Province, signed a protocol for increasing ties and cooperation. The plan is set up a Russian-Chinese Industrial Park at the Vladivostok State University. Despite its name the park will focus on scientific research and partnership.
Sinomania! readers will recall that at the provincial level Heilongjiang and Primorsky Krai (Russia's Far East) are spearheading cooperative efforts. Xi Jinping's recent Russia-EU tour began in Vladivostok with a welcome from Russia's top leaders.
Manchuria and Siberia remain underdeveloped and rich in resources. Along with the Tumen River area the region could be a major center of migration, industrialization, and urbanization in the medium to long term....
Sinomania! readers will recall that at the provincial level Heilongjiang and Primorsky Krai (Russia's Far East) are spearheading cooperative efforts. Xi Jinping's recent Russia-EU tour began in Vladivostok with a welcome from Russia's top leaders.
Manchuria and Siberia remain underdeveloped and rich in resources. Along with the Tumen River area the region could be a major center of migration, industrialization, and urbanization in the medium to long term....
Labels: cooperation, foreign exchange, foreign relations, russia
March 08, 2010
China Gets North Korean Port on Sea of Japan
The provincial government of Jilin Province in Manchuria told the National People's Congress today that the North Korean government agreed to lease the port of Rajin on the northeastern coast of the Sea of Japan to China for 10 years. Use of the port will give sea access to the landlocked hinterlands of Manchuria for the first time since the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. Rajin is included in economic and trade zones originally created as part of the UN sponsored Tumen River Area Development Programme between Russia, China, and North Korea. Russia is upgrading a railway from the border to Rajin in what may be competing investment. Chinese development of Rajin port could jump start the Tumen River region. This development has important implications for the economy and navy balance in the region....
Labels: exports, japan, russia, shipping, strategic
February 18, 2010
China Buys ESPO Crude
Unipec -- China's largest oil trader and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese oil major Sinopec -- bought a 730,000 barrel cargo of ESPO (East Siberian Pacific Ocean) crude oil held in storage at a terminus of the new ESPO pipeline (see previous reports here). The move is viewed by analysts as a sign that China is pleased with the oil's quality. First shipments were made to refiners in (South) Korea and Japan. It is anticipated that ESPO could become an Asia-centered pricing benchmark similar to West Texas Intermediate or Brent Blend.....
Labels: foreign trade, oil, peak oil, pipeline, russia
December 28, 2009
Siberian Oil Flows to China from New Kozmino Terminal
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin helped opened the new Kozmino oil terminal on the icy coastline of Russia's Far East today. The first shipment of crude from new fields in eastern Siberia will sail to a customer in Hong Kong. While the Kozmino terminal and part of the giant East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline is complete the final pipeline to the coast and deep inside China are still under construction. When completed (date unknown at this time) almost a fifth of the approximately 80 million tons per year of crude the pipelines carry will flow directly to China. Russian producers claim the crude - called ESPO blend for now - is comparable to middle east oil grades and its price is tentatively based on Dubai blend....
Labels: foreign investment, foreign trade, oil, peak oil, pipeline, russia
December 02, 2009
Pipelineistan: China Gets Gas While Stans Compete
The 2009 Turkmenistan Electric and Scientific Exhibition opens next week in the capital Ashgabat. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was in Rome last week being wined and dined, taken to the racetrack, and signing deals with Italy's oil major ENI while PM Berlusconi promised to send a film crew to broadcast Turkmenistan's charms to Italian travelers.
Meanwhile US special envoy for Caspian Sea energy David Stein was in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, where leaks say the government is coming close to a deal with Turkemenistan to divvy up the middle of the Caspian and allow a pipeline between the two nations to connect with the Nabucco pipeline project.
Years in planning, the Nabucco pipeline project is the hope of the EU, Germany in particular, to move away from dependence on Russian gas imports. Russia and Turkemenistan are in stalemate over a gas pipeline that is largely complete but not in use. Russian President Medvedev has just arrived in Italy on the heels of his Turkmen counterpart and will visit Turkmenistan later this month.
Turkmenistan may have the world's fifth largest recoverable reserves of natural gas. The country exports electricity to neighbors Iran and Afghanistan and also throughout central Asia via a Soviet era grid system. With American assistance neighboring Uzbekistan has built its own modern grid and announced this week it would soon withdraw from the legacy transmission system and potentially leave parts of the region at Uzbekistan's mercy just in time for Winter weather.
But while Europe, Russia, and all the "stans" compete, the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline will begin delivering gas to China in mid December.....
Meanwhile US special envoy for Caspian Sea energy David Stein was in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, where leaks say the government is coming close to a deal with Turkemenistan to divvy up the middle of the Caspian and allow a pipeline between the two nations to connect with the Nabucco pipeline project.
Years in planning, the Nabucco pipeline project is the hope of the EU, Germany in particular, to move away from dependence on Russian gas imports. Russia and Turkemenistan are in stalemate over a gas pipeline that is largely complete but not in use. Russian President Medvedev has just arrived in Italy on the heels of his Turkmen counterpart and will visit Turkmenistan later this month.
Turkmenistan may have the world's fifth largest recoverable reserves of natural gas. The country exports electricity to neighbors Iran and Afghanistan and also throughout central Asia via a Soviet era grid system. With American assistance neighboring Uzbekistan has built its own modern grid and announced this week it would soon withdraw from the legacy transmission system and potentially leave parts of the region at Uzbekistan's mercy just in time for Winter weather.
But while Europe, Russia, and all the "stans" compete, the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline will begin delivering gas to China in mid December.....
Labels: energy security, gas, iran, russia
Chinese Exports to Russia Collapse
Despite numerous bilateral summits, extension of credit by China, and big new energy deals, Russia-China trade collapsed -34.4% over the Janury-October 2009 period and will most likely end the year at below 2008 levels Russian China trade rep Sergei Tsyplakov said today. Imports from China to Russia fell almost -50% to $13.8 billion (US dollars) value.
The trade figures are more a reflection of the poor state of Russia's economy. While Russia continues to profit from its oil and gas sector Prime Minister Putin scolded Russian industry at a party congress in St. Petersburg last weekend. Putin said Russia "need[s] to clear the economy of hopeless, outdated and money-wasting industries" and singled out the nation's auto industry as a particularly dire sector with output down 60%. Retail sales in Russia fell -8.5% in October and many foreign retailers including majors Walmart, Carrefour, and IKEA, are pulling out as they see their businesses fail to materialize or bog down in red tape or corruption....
Labels: chinese trade, foreign trade, russia
November 05, 2009
China-Russia Border May Open to Private Cars
The governors of Heilongjiang Province in China and Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East want to open the border and allow private cars to cross freely. The idea is one of several proposed by a delegation from the Chinese city of Mudanjiang to Vladivostock. Mudanjiang is an important industrial city midway between Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang, and Vladivostock. Mudanjiang has a metro population of close to 3 million, a large airport, and a developing tourism industry around its mountains and lakes.
Of immediate concern to the Chinese delegation is regular air service between the cities. As recently as 2003 there were 2 flights a day between Mudanjiang and Vladivostock although the flilghts were chartered only on the Chinese side and the planes were small (under 50 passengers). For reasons unknown to this writer they were suspended (weak demand?). China-Russia trade and development has tremendous potential. This region is close to the Tumen River development zone as well so it is an area to watch....
Of immediate concern to the Chinese delegation is regular air service between the cities. As recently as 2003 there were 2 flights a day between Mudanjiang and Vladivostock although the flilghts were chartered only on the Chinese side and the planes were small (under 50 passengers). For reasons unknown to this writer they were suspended (weak demand?). China-Russia trade and development has tremendous potential. This region is close to the Tumen River development zone as well so it is an area to watch....
Labels: foreign relations, free trade, russia
October 27, 2009
RIC Summit Focus on Business, Nano-Tech
The 9th Russia - India - China Trilateral summit is underway in Bangalore led by each nations' foreign minister. According to the People's Daily, mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, the group have already reached "major consensus" on a variety of issues including agreement that the current international situation is experiencing a "deep and all-dimensional change". The group is focusing on business cooperation particulary in energy and nano-technology. The meeting follows high-level encounters between Russia and India in Moscow and a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit between the Prime Ministers of India and China....
Labels: foreign relations, india, russia
October 14, 2009
Russia, USA Engage Chinese Military
Russian PM Putin's visit to Beijing is being hailed as a renewed thaw in Russia-China relations with commitments for close cooperation on trade, energy, and high technology. Beijing and Moscow will set up a hot line similar to the one each nation already shares with Washington. And Russia and China will advise each other of ballistic missile launches. Meanwhile, the Pentagon will host the People's Liberation Army's number 2 man, Xu Caihou, for the week ending Halloween....
Labels: foreign relations, military, pentagon, russia
October 12, 2009
The 8th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
The 8th heads of government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) opens in Beijing this week. Already in town is Russian PM Vladimir Putin and on the way a delegation including first VP from Iran. Iran remains in observor status. Afghanistan is also an observor but no word on whether President Karzai will be in Beijing. Pakistani PM Gilani will be present but is cutting short his stay due to the spate of terrorist attacks in the past few days. The SCO began as a security group and even conducted war games but has devolved into an economic coordinating session. Putin will talk gas deals, Pakistan has its annual list of investment projects seeking Chinese support, Iran will talk gas too. The situation in Afghanistan will also be discussed....
Labels: gas, global security, iran, pakistan, russia
October 09, 2009
Chinese Navy Gets Russian Anti-Sub Helicopters, Orders More
The Russian Helicopters conglomerate is field testing an order of nine KA-28 type anti-submarine helicopters for China's navy. According to China Defense Blog, Beijing ordered 10 more. The purchase of the helicopters are part of a larger multi-year deal for destroyers and related equipment from Russia. The presence of nuclear armed submarines, primarily of the USA, off the long coastline of China is one of Beijing's greatest vulnerabilities.
But the helicopters will not affect any strategic balance in the region. Russia (and the Soviet Union) has sold approximately 20 Ka-28s to the Indian Navy since the 1980s....
Labels: military, navy, russia
September 08, 2009
What Laura Ling and Euna Lee Didn't Report
Missing from all the coverage of the arrest and imprisonment of US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee along the frozen banks of the Tumen River between North Korea and China is any mention, let alone discussion, of the Greater Tumen Initiative. Underway this week in Changchun, China, capital of Jilin Province, is the 5th NorthEast Asia Economic Cooperation Forum. High level talks are taking place between China, Russia, Mongolia, North and South Korea, on the long-range plans to develop the Tumen River area that forms the border between China, North Korea, and Russia, into a major crossroads for trade and potentially open up North Korea. The Greater Tumen Initiative is a UN sponsored entity and around it are a host of development projects that aim to develop a seaport for central and northern Manchuria close to the population and energy centers of the Russian Far East. It is an important region to watch as it is ripe for transformation....
Labels: foreign investment, foreign relations, russia, un
August 27, 2009
China Russia Oil Imports Up 37%
Chinese imports of Russian crude oil rose 30% in the 2nd Quarter and were up 37% Year-on-Year to around 347,000 barrels/day.
Meanwhile the East Siberian Oil Pipeline is on schedule with the Skovorodino to Daqing (China's biggest oil refining center in Heilongjiang Province) link expected to go online October 2010. [corrected text:] It is anticipated that the pipeline will have a capacity of 15 million tons of crude oil a year when it is fully operational....
Meanwhile the East Siberian Oil Pipeline is on schedule with the Skovorodino to Daqing (China's biggest oil refining center in Heilongjiang Province) link expected to go online October 2010. [corrected text:] It is anticipated that the pipeline will have a capacity of 15 million tons of crude oil a year when it is fully operational....
Labels: energy security, oil, peak oil, pipeline, russia
July 23, 2009
The Cherkizovsky Chinese Pogrom
A delegation from Beijing including a Deputy Commerce Minister is in Moscow this week to discuss the crackdown by Moscow city and Russian police on Chinese traders at the giant Cherkizovsky market. Cherkizovsky is a huge wholesale market located outside central Moscow. Russian authorities claim it is a center of Chinese smuggling and have confiscated all Chinese goods and deported 150 Chinese nationals. Chinese in Moscow say it is a pogrom and fear their merchandise - valued up to $5 billion (US) - will be confiscated. Unraveling this mess will be key if recent talk of promoting Russia-China trade is anything other than words....
Labels: chinese trade, free trade, russia
June 17, 2009
New High in Russia-China Bilateral Relations
Hu Jintao and Dmitry Medvedev traveled to Moscow after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to solidify numerous deals and plans for much closer relations between the two Eurasian giants. Hu also met with PM Vladimir Putin. In an historical reversal, Beijing will lend Moscow billions to buy Chinese machinery to close a technology gap in Russia.
A half century ago the shoe was on the other foot and in the midst of a little understood dispute Moscow withdrew such assistance to Chairman Mao reducing Mao's influence until he was (briefly) voted out of power, an external cause to the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Relations with Russia (in its Soviet Union incarnation) deteriorated to the point of a border war in 1969 that helped force the reproachment with the USA under President Nixon. How times change....
Labels: foreign relations, hu jintao, russia
June 15, 2009
China - Pakistan Strengthen Ties
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is meeting at Yekaterinburg, Russia, and observor nations Pakistan, India, and Mongolia are in attendance. Iran - the first observer nation invited to the group - is absent due to a contested presidential election.
At the meeting China and Pakistan agreed to enhance the China-Pakistan Cooperative Partnership. Pakistan pledged top level support for the estimated 10,000 Chinese currently working at over 100 development projects in the country. No specific mention of Gwadar port that this author can find at this time....
Labels: iran, russia, strategic
May 20, 2009
Russia-EU China Border Showdown
It is Russia's turn to host the biannual Russia - European Union summit beginning Thursday and the choice of venue is unique and pointed - the capital of the Far East Federal District, Khabarovsk. The city sits along the Amur River or as it is better known in China the Heilong Jiang. On the selection of his city, a local Russian official said " We see ourselves as a bridge between Europe and Asia. The development strategy for the Far East, outlining our priorities, is currently in the works, and plenty of it is about transport."
Russian aims can be interpreted as showing the EU just how far its territory and resources expand but also strengthen claim to a border Chairman Mao challenged in 1969 with disastrous consequences....
Russian aims can be interpreted as showing the EU just how far its territory and resources expand but also strengthen claim to a border Chairman Mao challenged in 1969 with disastrous consequences....
Labels: foreign relations, russia
February 17, 2009
Energy Security: Russia China Oil Deal On
When first announced last October by PM Wen Jiabao $25 billion in loans was proposed from China National Petroleum Corp. to Roseneft for a pipeline directly from the emerging eastern Siberia oil fields to connect with China's oil pipeline and refinery centers. As announced today Roseneft will get $15 billion (US dollars) and Transneft - Russia's pipeline monopoly - $10 billion. When complete, China will get a steady supply of crude oil for 20 years. This is a major blow to the Japanese government which tried for years to prevent a pipeline direct to China...
Labels: asian energy security grid, energy security, japan, oil, peak oil, russia
October 28, 2008
Wen Jiabao: China-Russia Oil Deal "Strategic"
The China National Petroleum Corp. and Rosneft, state-owned oil majors of China and Russia, finalized the long planned pipeline connection between the expanding eastern Siberian oil fields and China's pipeline network and refining centers. In Moscow, PM Wen Jiabao described the deal as "strategic" and Beijing may float Rosneft a $25 billion loan in the package.
When completed, 15 million tons per year of Russian crude will flow through the pipeline.
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