Russia and China have signed a general trade agreement involving China’s largest state-run energy company and the Russian state-run gas supplier. There are several ways to play this alliance with exchange traded funds (ETFs).
The deal calls for a supply of nearly 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas per year via two potential routes originating from Siberia. The deal focuses on Central Asian countries and Russia as suppliers of natural gas, reports Edward Wong for The Wall Street Journal.
Gazprom, Russia’s state-run gas supplier and China National Petroleum Corp., China’s largest oil and gas supplier, have not yet worked out pricing details. (Read about the four things going for Russia).
A pipeline will run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, driving a political wedge between Eastern and Western Europe. Central and Eastern European leaders fear the pipeline could usher in another round of domination by Russia through the use of gas, reports Andrew E. Kramer for The Wall Street Journal.
Russian gas has already been routed through Eastern Europe to Western Europe services. The new pipeline will give Russia a direct supply line to the west, enabling it to play “pipeline politics” with its eastern neighbors.