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Hu, Putin call for closer oil cooperation
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-22 12:42
Russia and China pledged Wednesday to cooperate more
closely in producing oil and gas, and the Russian president vowed to go forward
with a much-anticipated pipeline to carry Siberian oil to fuel China's booming
economy.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced no details
of the oil pipeline or its timing after meeting in Beijing with his Chinese
counterpart, Hu Jintao, for the fifth time in less than a year.
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Russian President
Putin (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao after his speech
at the Sino-Russian Industrial and Commercial Forum at Diaoyutai State
Guest House in Beijing March 22, 2006.
[Reuters]
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Putin
promised on Tuesday to expand Russian energy supplies to China by opening a
natural gas pipeline network within five years. But he gave no concrete details
on the oil pipeline that Beijing is also eagerly seeking. Russian officials say
a feasibility study must be finished before those plans are finalized.
Nevertheless, an official of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp
told Dow Jones Newswires the pipeline should be completed by about 2008 and
carry 200,000 barrels of oil a day. The official, Wang Shengzi, said CNPC would
build a refinery to process the imports.
Also Wednesday, the head of
Russian oil company OAO Rosneft said it would launch joint ventures with CNPC to
produce Russian crude and operate filling stations in China.
"We should
see various ways to cooperate in energy and resources," Hu said at the opening
of a Russian-Chinese business forum. "We should work hard on the exploration of
energy, such as oil and gas."
China is lobbying for access to Russian
oil and gas amid a worldwide scramble to secure energy for its sizzling economy,
which the government says should grow by 8 percent this year.
A key
project is the planned 4,100-kilometer (2,550-mile) Siberian pipeline to the
Pacific coast that drew heavy lobbying from both China and Japan for the most
favorable routing.
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