Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed Thursday that oil exports to China are expected to reach hundreds of millions of tons or over $60 billion. He announced this at a meeting with the First Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhang Gaoli on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
As part of their discussions on trade, economic and energy cooperation between the two countries, Putin said, "You are about to sign a major contract with Rosneft, an unprecedented contract without any exaggeration: oil exports to China are expected to reach hundreds of millions of tons. In dollars that amounts to over $60 billion."
Putin was referring to China's proposed contract with Russian state oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN.L). He also added that he expects a great deal from the cooperation between companies such as Russia's two largest natural gas producers OAO Gazprom (OGZPF, OGZPY, GAZP) and OAO Novatek in the gas sector.
Meanwhile, Gaoli said he is in Russia also to continue discussions with Russian partners on stepping up cooperation in the energy sphere. He added that he has had substantive conversation with 'good friend' Igor Sechin, who is the Chairman and CEO of Rosneft.
According to a Bloomberg report, China is slated to become Russia's biggest oil customer after signing the proposed oil contract, following a government accord in April.
The agreement signed in April calls for Rosneft to deliver at least 37 million metric tons of oil a year, or 743,000 barrels a day, to China National Petroleum Corp. starting in 2018, Bloomberg said.
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