Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, December 16 (Xinhua) — Located in Russia's Far East, less than 200 kilometers from the Chinese border, is the Amur Gas Processing Plant (GPP), one of the world's largest natural gas processing facilities. This is a landmark project in the history of the Russian gas industry and a clear sign of the ever-deepening energy cooperation between China and Russia. The plant has become a vital link in the supply chain for Russian gas via the eastern route—the Power of Siberia pipeline—to China.
Early December of this year marked six years since the commissioning of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. Xinhua journalists traveled to Russia's Amur Region to visit the Amur Gas Processing Plant and the Atamanskaya compressor station, located on the main Chinese-Russian energy artery.
After a seven-and-a-half-hour flight from Moscow, Xinhua journalists arrived in Blagoveshchensk, a city on the banks of the Heilongjiang River (Amur), a Chinese-Russian border river, opposite the city of Heihe (Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China). After boarding a minibus, they traveled north for more than three hours across the endless snow-covered steppe and finally arrived at the Amur Gas Processing Plant.
"The plant covers 900 hectares, equivalent to 1,100 football fields," says Danis Fairuzov, the plant's chief engineer. He explained that construction began in October 2015. To build the Amur Gas Processing Plant, extensive infrastructure was initially created: 27 kilometers of access roads, approximately 40 kilometers of railways, and a terminal on the Zeya River for the delivery of oversized cargo. The first production line was commissioned in June 2021. At the peak of construction, 35,000 workers were involved in the project, including Chinese specialists. "Over a ten-year period, a huge number of people contributed to achieving the current scale," notes Fairuzov.
The Amur Gas Processing Plant's design capacity is 42 billion cubic meters per year. The feedstock—multicomponent natural gas—is delivered to the plant via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline from the Kovyktinskoye and Chayandinskoye fields in Eastern Siberia. The plant boasts 88-meter-tall towers where the natural gas is purified and separated. Six process lines are designed to produce valuable components such as helium, ethane, propane, methane, butane, and the pentane-hexane fraction. Once fully operational, the Amur Gas Processing Plant will produce 60 million cubic meters of helium per year, making it the world leader in helium production. Helium, which is used in many industries, including metallurgy, medicine, electronics, and aerospace, has been regularly supplied to China since September 2023. Russian helium accounts for approximately 40% of China's helium imports.
Xinhua journalists also visited the most powerful compressor station on the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. The Ataman compressor station is the closest to China. It creates the pressure necessary to pump gas through the underwater crossing of the Heilongjiang River, ensuring uninterrupted supplies of natural gas to China. "If we compare the gas supply system to the human body, the compressor station is the 'heart' that pumps gas through pipes, as if through blood vessels," Faridun Zoirov, head of the gas compressor service at the Ataman compressor station, figuratively describes the process.
In the small town of Svobodny, near the Amur Gas Processing Plant, one can see how energy cooperation between China and Russia is improving the lives of the local population. A residential neighborhood, Alekseevsky, with nearly 1,700 apartments, was built for the plant's employees. Last September, the Gazprom School Svobodny, designed for 900 students, opened in the neighborhood. As part of the curriculum, students can choose Chinese language lessons. "The Chinese language curriculum is designed to raise future generations who are more knowledgeable about China and to open up new opportunities for children to participate in future cooperation with China," noted school principal Maria Kovalenko.
Since the official commencement of Russian gas deliveries to China via the eastern route on December 2, 2019, energy cooperation between China and Russia has achieved significant results. In early December 2024, Gazprom increased daily gas deliveries to over 100 million cubic meters. This is the maximum level under the 30-year contract signed with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in 2014, which provides for annual deliveries of 38 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia to China via the eastern route.
In September of this year, China and Russia signed a number of documents expanding their energy cooperation, including the Agreement on Strategic Cooperation between Gazprom and CNPC. "Over the years of working together, we and our Chinese partners have built a strong energy bridge that connects our peoples and serves the benefit of both countries. Today marks a crucial step toward further strengthening and developing our strategic partnership, increasing reliable supplies of clean energy—natural gas—to China and meeting the needs of China's rapidly growing economy," commented Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee of PJSC Gazprom.
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