China apparently could be in a better position than Russia to directly influence future Asian oil and gas development and policies, speakers agreed during a Sept. 22 discussion at the Center for Strategic & International Studies . The $400 billion natural gas deal the two countries signed in May was significant, they agreed ( OGJ Online, May 21, 2014 ). “Both sides wanted it, but its economics are very hard,” said Edward C. Chow, a senior fellow in CSIS’s Energy and National Security Program. “They’ve been negotiating for 10 years to build a very long pipeline involving eastern fields which will be difficult to develop,” Chow said, adding, “The gas price when it reaches China’s border won’t be attractive.” Shoichi Itoh, a senior analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics in Tokyo, said, “The development of eastern Siberia and the Far East is Russia’s […]