According to the Russian news agency on November 11, the information provided to investors and analysts by the Russian Natural Gas Industry Corporation confirmed that the company plans to supply natural gas to China along the western route from the end of 2015.

According to the Russian Natural Gas Conference, the company is expected to sign a gas supply contract with China this year. The company disclosed in mid-January that during the negotiations with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the two sides were close to each other on the technical parameters for supplying Russian natural gas.

The Sino-Russian Altai gas pipeline project will connect Russia's Siberian gas fields with China, with an estimated cost of $14 billion. Alexei Miller, president of Russian Natural Gas Corporation, said that the gas supply negotiations between the company and China were drawing to a close, so the Russian side planned to start construction of the Altai natural gas pipeline in mid-2011. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.