The Tianjin summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is proving to be a lot more than lofty words and photographs. After the trilateral meeting among Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Sept. 2, Rosatom CEO Alexei Miller told reporters that a “legally binding memorandum” had been signed by the three leaders for the construction of the massive Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline.
The pipeline is a major endeavor, under discussion since 2006 but only agreed to now. Miller claimed that the pipeline will be capable of transporting 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year for 30 years, going from Russia’s Yamal Peninsula in the Arctic, through Mongolia, to China. This dwarfs even the original Power of Siberia pipeline begun in 2014, which transits 38 bcm—called “historic” by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche at the time. Miller also announced that the gas output from the original Power of Siberia pipeline will be boosted, from 38 to 44 bcm, as will another pipeline running from Russia’s Sakhalin Island, increasing from 10 bcm to 12 bcm per year.
Reuters quotes Michal Meidan, head of China Energy Research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, who called the deal “a huge turning point in the geopolitics of energy.” Meidan added, “China is no longer even pretending to comply with U.S. sanctions or care about what the West thinks. And it’s not alone.”
