DHAKA: Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev says Moscow has signed an US$85 billion deal to supply oil to China.

Medvedev said in an online discussion with Chinese Internet users that Russia’s biggest oil producer, Rosneft, would supply 70 million barrels of crude a year for 10 years.

Medvedev says the agreement ‘testifies to the fact that we have reached a higher and a brand new level of cooperation’.

China is the fastest-growing energy market and Russia is a major supplier.

The two sides have expanded trade in oil and gas but progress has been slowed by lack of agreement on prices and other details, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1643 HRS, OCT 22, 2013
RoR/RK