Central Asia seen as better bet for supplying China
Tethys chief says Kazakhstan and neighbours are more suited than Russia to Beijing's needs
While Ukraine's territorial dispute with Russia will facilitate a gas supply deal between Moscow and Beijing, Central Asia has better long-term potential as an energy supplier to China, the chief of Tethys Petroleum said.
David Robson, executive chairman of the Toronto and London-listed oil and gas firm with Central Asian projects targeting China, believes the politics will be overridden by economic considerations and Europe will remain Russia's main gas market.
In the medium term [more Russian] gas [will go] back to Europe again
"Certainly in the short term it will encourage Russian gas to go eastward rather than westward, but of course they still need gas in Europe and the logical place for the gas to come from is still Russia," he said. "In the medium term, the [political issues] will be sorted out and we will see more gas going back to Europe again."
China has been in talks for more than 15 years with Russia on importing natural gas from Siberia, but price differences meant no deal has been signed so far.
Gas price reforms to make mainland prices get closer to international prices and Russia's desire to diversify its export destinations have narrowed the differences. President Vladimir Putin is due to meet President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this month to discuss issues including a possible 30-year gas supply deal.
Russian gas giant Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) signed a framework agreement in 2009 that could see almost 70 billion cubic metres (bcm) sent via two pipelines entering northeast and northwest China by 2018.