Gas tanks are pictured at Austria's largest natural gas import and distribution station in Baumgarten May 2, 2014.
Gas tanks are pictured at Austria's largest natural gas import and distribution station in Baumgarten May 2, 2014. Austria rescued Gazprom's South Stream pipeline project last month so it can bring its own gas from the Black Sea, a source told Reuters, which will be the first time the Russian gas exporter has agreed a competitor's gas access to its pipelines. Picture taken May 2. To match story Reuters

Taking a cue from Ukraine, one more former Soviet state renewed its gas-supply contract with Russia's Gazprom for one more year. Thus Molodova extended its gas deal with Russia to 2015 and will pay Gazprom $331.80 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. The extended contract was signed in its capital Chisinau on November 11.

The first contract signed in 2006 had expired in 2011. Since then, it was being repeatedly extended. Moldova borders Ukraine.In June this year, Moldova signed an Association Agreement with the EU. This had made Russian President Vladimir Putin unhappy as Chinsinau was not responding to Russian requests for talks on trade issues, report Rferl News.

It is courted by EU also As a result, Moldova is also trying to procure energy sources from Europe to reduce its dependence on Russia's Gazprom. Accordingly, it is building a pipeline to import gas from Romania.

Gas Deal With China

Russia's gas exports found another market in China. A second Russian gas pipeline to China is on cards. That will accomplish President Vladimir Putin's strategy of balancing energy exports between Asia and Europe. This will be in addition to the pipeline from western Siberia to China, which was advantageous to Russia. Number one benefit was that its relatively short distance from the western fields to China's border and the ease of using its deposits to serve the European customers. It will also help Gazprom to switch supplies between the two markets.

However, China had issues with the western Siberia route, as the gas will only be delivered to the its arid west, which thousands of miles away from the industrial belt on the coast. So, it was finally agreed by both parties to start a new pipeline from eastern Siberia this year, reports BD live.

The agreement to build a second Russia-China link was announced by Mr Putin and President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Beijing, last week. The pipeline would deliver as much as 30-billion cubic metres of gas a year, for 30 years adding extra volumes to the 38-billion already agreed in the first contract. This will make China Russia's largest gas customer, displacing Germany.

However, the deal between Gazprom and China National Petroleum has not mentioned any price agreement. It may be recalled that negotiators spent almost a decade in trying to agree on the first contract. So, the second deal will also take its time. The base price in the contract with China, signed early this year was $360 per 1,000 cubic metres. Though precise payments may vary as per global oil prices, it will be an average $366 per 1,000 cubic metres, which is currently the price Russia is charging on Germany, and is considered to be one of the lowest prices in Europe.