- Altai gas pipeline
The Altai gas pipeline is a proposed 2,800 km long natural gas pipeline, which is considered to connect
Russia n natural gas deposits inNadym andUrengoy in Western Siberia with the Xinjiang region in WesternChina , where it will be linked to theWest-East Gas Pipeline . The memorandum on deliveries of Russian natural gas to China was signed byGazprom CEOAlexei Miller andCNPC CEOChen Geng during Russian presidentVladimir Putin 's visit to China in March2006 .The designed capacity of the pipeline is 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) natural gas annually and the total costs of the whole project is expected to be up to 14 billion USD. The pipeline expected to become operational in 2011, although there are some doubts that the real date would be 3-4 years later. The pipeline will be built and operated by TomskTransGaz, the subsidiary of Gazprom.
The pipeline project is criticized by environmental organizations, because it's planned to run across the
Ukok Plateau , which is the natural habitat of the snow leopard and other endangered species.External links
* [http://www.kommersant.com/p705319/r_500/Natural_Gas_in_Exchange_for_Time/ Natural Gas in Exchange for Time] , by Kommersant
16 September 2006
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.