Russian gas pivots east

The newly completed Power of Siberia pipeline may boost Moscow's options, but it is hardly a geopolitical big win

Five years after Russian gas giant Gazprom and Chinese state-owned CNPC signed a $400bn deal on the Power of Siberia gas pipeline (PoS), stretching from the Chayandinskoye and Kovytkinskoye gas fields near the Baikal Lake to the Chinese border, the first phase of the project is finally on the brink of production. While Moscow has tried to frame the project as a successful pivot to the east amid strained tensions with the West, PoS will inevitably increase Russia’s economic dependency on China. The pipeline will supply China’s north-eastern provinces with 4.6bn m³ in the first year and 19bn m³ in 2022—by 2025 it will ramp up to 38bn m³. It will also have a long-term impact on gas market dynam