Russian and Chinese Energy Officials Sign Raft of Agreements

BLAGOVESHCHENSK. September 2. VOSTOK-MEDIA – Chinese and Russian senior energy officials and executives have met in Blagoveshchensk today to sign a raft of cooperation agreements in the areas of oil, gas, energy and coal.

In 2008, Russia supplied to China over a million tons of coal. Within the next five years coal exports to China is planned to increase 15 times.

One of the provisions of the agreement is directly related to Priamurye. The Chinese company Shenhua proposed to set up a joint Sino-Russian venture to develop Ogodzhinsky coal deposit located in Selemdzhinsky District, which would give a boost to the local energy and transportation infrastructure.

In addition, the officials discussed a number of issues relating to the construction of oil refinery near Beijing and energy supplies from Priamurye.

“Amur is a rapidly developing region which has a huge potential for large-scale energy projects,” said Russia’s Minister of Energy Sergei Shmatko.