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The agreement signed between the Russian company Gazprom and the Chinese firm CNPC in May 2014 about the exportation of 38 Gm3/ year of Russian gas toward China for thirty years signals a turning point in the energy policies of these two countries, which shape world hydro-carbon markets. This agreement could turn out to hold strategic importance. For both players, the natural gas trade ensues from a strategy of diversification in response to issues related to the security and reliability of the energy supply, in terms of both supply and demand. Although these two parties are responding to economic concerns, the growth of this trade fits into an institutional context characterized by converging structures of governance in the natural gas industry.