Russia-China-Korea Gas Pipeline To Start In time

The Kovykta gas pipeline project, which will transport natural gas from Russia' to China and South Korea, might come out ahead over the Sino-Russian oil pipeline project.
The two countries are discussing now the price of the gas and the result of negotiations is to be seen in three or four months, said TNK-BP President and CEO Robert Dudley. He added that natural gas from Kovykta will start flowing through the pipeline by the end of 2008 as planned.
TNK-BP is the major shareholder of Russia Petroleum, the project's gas supplier. Other major partners are China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and South Korea's Kogas.
The project aims to build a cross-border pipeline to carry 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the Kovykta field in Irkutsk region (Russia) to China's northeastern provinces, and then onto Beijing and the nearby Bohai Rim via domestic branches.
CNPC, Kogas and Russia Petroleum finished the international feasibility study (IFS) for the Kovykta gas pipeline in November, and signed a preliminary letter of intent for the sale and purchase of the gas.