ST. PETERSBURG, June 20 (RIA Novosti) – Russian oil giant Rosneft’s agreements to supply several hundred million tons of oil to China are worth a total of more than $60 billion, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
“Deliveries to China are expected in volumes calculated on the basis of more than hundreds of millions of tons of oil. In dollar equivalent, this is more than $60 billion,” Putin said at a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.
A contract to expand Rosneft oil supplies to China is expected to be signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which opened Thursday. Putin described the deal as unprecedented.
Rosneft and oil pipeline monopoly Transneft currently deliver 15 million tons of crude to China annually via a Russia-China branch of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline under a deal signed in 2009.
Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said in February that Rosneft might increase oil supplies to China by more than 9 million metric tons.
