MOSCOW Exxon Mobil has signed a preliminary deal to sell to China the gas it exports from a project off the Russian Far Eastern island of Sakhalin.

The deal to sell gas to China National Petroleum Corporation underscores the importance of the Russian oil and gas province to Asian markets.

An Exxon Mobil spokesman says the deal paves the way for a final sale and purchase agreement to be signed between the two companies.

The spokeswoman says the Irving, Texas-based company aims to sell eight (B) billion cubic meters of gas per year to China. It now supplies one-point-seven (B) billion cubic meters per year to local consumers in a nearby Russian region and plans to raise that figure to three.

Source:佚名