MOSCOW - Gazprom is confident it will be able to supply China with large volumes of natural gas despite a recent deal between Beijing and Turkmenistan, the Russian gas export monopoly's chief spokesman said on Thursday.

Luckily, the Chinese market is so big and so full of prospects that we are a long way from seeing real competition there, Sergei Kupriyanov said during a live radio broadcast on Ekho Moskvy radio station.

He said Gazprom was confident it would one day sign a large supply deal with China, which will follow the opening of a major pipeline between Turkmenistan and China earlier this month. [ID:nLDE5BD0F2] (Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov, editing by Robin Paxton)

Energy China