Russia to price China’s gas at record 56% below other export prices

[Beijingwalker]

Russia to price China’s gas at record 56% below other export prices​

20 October, 05:57 PM
Alex Stezhensky

Russia’s discount on natural gas supplied to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline will reach a record high in 2026, The Moscow Times reports.
Gazprom’s average gas price for China this year will be $247.90 per 1,000 cubic meters, compared with $562 paid by its other customers outside the former Soviet Union.

The reported discount will reach $315 per 1,000 cubic meters, or 56%.

“Compared with last year, the discount for China will increase by 15%: China then purchased gas at $240.30 per 1,000 cubic meters, compared with $406.50 paid by Gazprom’s other customers outside the former Soviet Union,” the publication reported.

“Next year, according to documents accompanying the budget law, the Kremlin will continue selling gas to Beijing at virtually half price: China will pay $251.30 per 1,000 cubic meters, 46% less than the price for other export deliveries ($450).”

Sergey Vakulenko, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, said Gazprom receives substantially less favorable terms in China than it previously did in Europe — and even worse terms than Turkmenistan, which also supplies gas to China.

Using Chinese customs data, Vakulenko calculated that Beijing pays $40–$60 more per 1,000 cubic meters for Turkmen gas.

As previously reported, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia would supply China with 39 billion cubic meters of gas through the Power of Siberia pipeline in 2026.

Russian gas supplies to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline are governed by a long-term agreement between Gazprom and China’s CNPC, signed in 2014.

Deliveries began in December 2019. Russia supplied China with 4.1 billion cubic meters of gas in 2020, with volumes rising 2.5-fold to 10.4 billion cubic meters in 2021.

In 2024, Gazprom delivered 31 billion cubic meters of gas to China. In 2025, the company brought the Power of Siberia pipeline to its designed capacity of 38 billion cubic meters annually.

 

[retaxis]

Siberia pipeline 2 will be even cheaper

Negotiations for the Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline are deadlocked due to a major price gap. China is demanding steep discounts near Russia's domestic rates of $50 to $130 per thousand cubic meters, while Russia seeks pricing benchmarked closer to the existing Power of Siberia 1 route at $240–$260 per thousand cubic meters. [1, 2]

Pricing Demands and Stances

• China's Position: Beijing has pushed for low pricing starting near Russia's heavily subsidized domestic residential rate of $50 per thousand cubic meters, or its industrial domestic range of $120 to $130 per thousand cubic meters. China also notes that its overall gas import demand is projected to peak by the mid-2030s, reducing its urgency. [1, 2]
• Russia's Position: Gazprom and Moscow want a pricing formula modeled on the original Power of Siberia 1 pipeline—which is expected to average $247.90 per thousand cubic meters for China in 2026—rather than selling at or below Russia's estimated production and export break-even threshold (roughly $125 per thousand cubic meters). [1, 2, 3]
• Current Market Comparison: In contrast, Gazprom's average price for non-Soviet/non-Chinese international export customers sits significantly higher at approximately $562 per thousand cubic meters. [1]

 

[ety]

The Soviet/Russia also milked China in economic and military deals in the 1950s when China had no choice.

 

[sunny405]

Siberia 2，The disagreement lies in Russia's desire to have the pipeline pass through Mongolia, while China refuses to allow it to go through Mongolia, believing that passing through a third country would pose security risks.