The year has started well for Russia when it comes to energy. Two large energy projects have been finished, Turk Stream and Power of Siberia, and the third, Nord Stream 2, has passed the point of no return – with U.S. sanctions now unable to obstruct its completion. Moscow’s ambitions, however, are loftier still. China and Russia have voiced plans for ever-closer political and economic cooperation. Energy is one of the most important areas of collaboration between these two superpowers due to the complementary nature of their economies. China requires ever-larger volumes of energy to power its expansion and Russia needs money to modernize and sustain a reasonable standard of living for its population. For nearly two decades Russia has been trying to convince China to buy natural gas from its natural gas fields in Western Siberia. Moscow has both political and financial reasons to convince Beijing of this. […]