Russia has finally figured it out and extended an olive branch to China, opening up massive amounts of oil and gas**
In the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia has recently clarified a strategic goal: to break its own "marginalization" in the West. In order to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough and economic development, they decided to implement a strategy of "looking east". In this strategy, China has become a key partner, and energy projects have become the "ballast stone" for the development of Sino-Russian cooperation. Despite the delay in launching the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which runs through China, Russia and Mongolia, Moscow recently announced a large-scale new energy cooperation project. This project will provide China with massive oil and gas resources, demonstrating Russia's desire for China's active participation.
According to the Russian Satellite News Agency on December 20**, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak mentioned in an interview that Russia proposed the "Vostochny Oil" oil and gas project to the Chinese side in October this year, and "Chinese partners are currently studying the project." At the same time, Russian Prime Minister Mishustin is on a two-day visit to China, and is looking forward to comprehensively deepening cooperation with the Chinese side in various fields. This shows that both Russia and China are looking forward to future cooperation.
According to the statement of the Russian high-level ** and the visit to China arranged by Russia at the end of the year, it can be seen that as this year is coming to an end, Moscow is urgently committed to completing the 23-year "summary" of Sino-Russian relations and preparing for deeper exchanges and cooperation next year.
Regarding the aforementioned "Vostochny Oil" project, the Russian side revealed that the project plans to transport 30 million tons of oil in 2024 and is expected to increase to 100 million tons by 2030, and its target market includes not only China, but also ASEAN countries, India, and even Japan and South Korea. In this oil and gas project, Rosneft has an 85% stake, a Hong Kong-based ** company has a 10% stake, and the remaining 5% is owned by a company in the United Arab Emirates. The establishment of this project shows that the Russian side is eager to cooperate with various countries and provide more possibilities for the energy future.
It has to be mentioned that although Russia's target market for "looking east" is not only China, at the current stage, the only good friend that Moscow can really rely on, rely on, and even highly trust is actually only China.
India, which imports a lot of Russian oil, for example, is still engaged in a "stilt walking" show between the United States and Russia, and there are some limitations in currency transactions between the two sides. As for ASEAN, Russia actually doesn't have much room for negotiation in this regard, and countries like Japan and South Korea belong entirely to the Western camp. On the contrary, in the past two years, it is China that has established several platforms for the development of political and economic exchanges, which has helped Russia to have more room for mediation in the international community.
This situation makes it clear that Russia must engage in comprehensive, open, and efficient cooperation with China in order to truly deepen its "Look East" strategy and serve its national interests. The primary goal of Russia's current economic development is how to sell oil to the Chinese market faster, better and more. In this regard, without China's recognition and financial support, Russia will not be able to achieve these goals, including the infrastructure of large-scale oil and gas projects. For this reason, the Moscow authorities have launched a number of energy joint ventures to "pull China in".
In addition, for Russia, which is currently "isolated" by the West, deeper integration into the Chinese market is necessary so that Russia can adapt to the new geo-economic landscape after the conflict in Ukraine. The scale of China and Russia this year has taken the lead in reaching 2000 in November
With an annual target of $100 million, the potential for future cooperation is unlimited.
Of course, for China, although we are ushering in the rise of the new energy era, oil will still be an indispensable "black **" for a long time to come, and it will be the lifeline supporting the development of industry and agriculture, logistics and the country. As we all know, we have been facing the dilemma of "lack of oil" due to the huge gap between domestic reserves, production and consumption. Energy cooperation with the oil giants in the Middle East needs to cross the Strait of Malacca in the Indian Ocean, which has always been at risk of being "choked by the throat" of the United States and the West. Therefore, cooperation with Russian oil exports, especially the opening of new energy routes, including the Arctic shipping routes, is essential for the development of the country and for solving energy security problems. We often say that in the field of energy, Sino-Russian cooperation has strong complementarity, broad prospects and great potential.
Of course, in general, cooperation between China and Russia on energy projects not only involves huge financial investments, but is also crucial for the strategic development and economic interests of both countries. Every issue and detail will need to be negotiated back and forth, and the negotiation process will inevitably be complex and some disagreements may arise. This is also the reason why the construction of "Power of Siberia 2" has not yet started.
Recently, there has been news that there are some controversies about Sino-Russian cooperation in oil and gas**, infrastructure funds and transmission route planning. But what is clear is that the practical cooperation between China and Russia, driven by common interests, has achieved remarkable results. Both sides have demonstrated strong internal motivation and expressed their willingness to ensure the smooth progress of the projects and support the long-term development of the country. The new year is coming, and we look forward to more exciting news from China-Russia cooperation.