Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia had become one of the main suppliers of petroleum and gas from China, with 13.8 billion cubic meters of gas shipped to China via the Siberian Power pipeline in the first 11 months of 2022.
Speaking at the start of a video conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin declared: “According to this year’s results, Russia has become one of the leaders in oil exports to China.”
Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as China’s top crude supplier last month.
Putin added that Russia was China’s second-largest supplier of pipeline gas and the fourth largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It said shipments had exceeded daily contractual obligations by 18 per cent in December.
Russian energy exports to China have risen sharply since Moscow sent its armed forces to Ukraine on Feb. 24, after which Western countries imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Nov. 29 that Russian energy exports to China had increased in value by 64% this year and by 10% in volume.
