From AP:
Russia and China are closing in on a mammoth energy deal which could insure that Beijing has the fuel to run its factories and cities and Moscow has a vast new market for its natural gas empire.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday wrapped up a three-day visit to the Chinese capital, during which Russia signed dozens of commercial pacts worth $3.5 billion and set the framework for a separate, multibillion-dollar agreement to build two natural gas pipelines to China from gas fields in Russia’s Far East.
Together, those pipelines would be capable of supplying China with 68 billion cubic meters (2.4 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas annually, representing a whopping 85 percent of the gas China currently consumes.
