Natural gas deliveries from Russia to China through the Power of Siberia 1 (PoS 1) pipeline have risen sharply, doubling contracted pipeline gas supplies to a rate of 10bn m³/yr (27.4mn m³/d).

PoS supplies hit 28.8mn m³/d on 3 January, with the additional volumes going to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, state-owned operator PipeChina said.

Deliveries have more than doubled from around 11.2mn m³/d in November. China started importing Russian gas through PoS in December 2019, with contracted volumes at 5bn m³/yr for the first year. Deliveries are scheduled to rise to 10bn m³/yr this month, then ramp up to 38bn m³/yr capacity for 20 years from 2025.

A total of 1.13mn m³ of gas has been delivered through PoS 1 since the start of the winter heating season, PipeChina said. That equates to around 23mn m³/d between 15 November and 3 January.

China's biggest gas supplier state-controlled PetroChina actively co-ordinated with Russia's state-run Gazprom to increase import volumes, parent company CNPC said last week. China requested a rise in Russian gas imports ahead of schedule to deal with colder weather and tight supply.

China's meteorological bureau is forecasting that another cold snap will hit northern, central and eastern regions of the country from today, hard on the heels of a cold spell that started on 29 December. Temperatures in these regions are forecast to fall by as much as 10°C.

China started operations at the second section of its gas pipeline link to Russia last month, boosting supplies through PoS 1 to a wider range of market users in north China.