Russian gas giant Gazprom, keen to diversify its energy clients, has been in talks with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to start sending gas to China but the two countries have yet to agree on pricing.

Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer, said in a statement on Wednesday that Russian and Chinese officials in Beijing had agreed on "key targets and parameters of the future supplies of Russian natural gas," adding that supplies were scheduled to start in 2015.

The statement did not provide further details.

During Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing last October, Gazprom and CNPC signed a framework agreement that could see about 70 billion cubic metres of natural gas sent to China yearly.

No financial details were released at the time and Putin only said the companies would peg the gas price to an "Asian oil basket."

Top energy officials, including Putin's powerful deputy in charge of energy, Igor Sechin, and Gazprom deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev, are in China ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev's visit there on September 26-28.

Sechin said Russia and China would agree on the pricing terms in the first half of next year, a government statement said on Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday Russia and China had agreed to invest five billion dollars in the construction of a refinery in Tianjin, a port city near Beijing, a Sechin aide said.

earlier related report
Hong Kong activists stopped from sailing to disputed islands
Hong Kong (AFP) Sept 22, 2010 - A group of Hong Kong activists who set sail for a disputed island chain in the East China Sea on Wednesday were stopped by police, a report said, amid a row between China and Japan over the territory.

The group said there were three activists and four crew on board the 150-foot (45-metre) vessel, which left port pursued by two Hong Kong marine police boats, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

Local radio RTHK later said the vessel had been stopped by marine police and quoted the boat's captain as saying they were stopped twice when they tried to sail outside Hong Kong waters.

The disputed islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan, lie in an area with rich fishing grounds that is also believed to contain oil and gas deposits. They are known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Hong Kong lawmaker Albert Ho earlier said the boat was carrying fishermen, some of whom were members of the Hong Kong-based Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands.

"They are going for the purpose of fishing," Ho told AFP. "They may be in the South China Sea or any place, including the Diaoyu Islands... The government has absolutely no power to stop fishermen from going out to fish."

But the city's Marine Department warned the boat's owner, Lo Chau, on Tuesday that it could not leave Hong Kong waters with passengers aboard because it was licensed as a fishing vessel.

A spokesman for the department had told AFP that "suitable action" would be taken, without specifying whether it planned to stop the vessel or pursue charges against those on board the Kai Fung No. 2.

In April, Lo and another Diaoyu activist were fined for carrying passengers on board without a licence during a planned trip to the islands.

Ho dismissed the involvement of Hong Kong officials as politically motivated interference directed by Beijing.

"They would not like anything to happen to escalate tensions between Japan and China," Ho told AFP. "They don't want anything to get out of control."

The planned trip comes as Japan dug in its heels Wednesday, rejecting China's claim to the islands.

Beijing has reacted furiously to the arrest of a Chinese trawler captain near the islands two weeks ago after his boat collided with two Japanese coastguard vessels.

The incident has sparked anti-Japan protests in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

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