SOCAR (State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic) is considering
opportunities to use the cross-country gas pipeline in Georgia,
including the Georgian section of the gas pipeline, which transports
gas exported from Russia to Armenia, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev
said during talks with Georgian Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri
and head of the State Oil and Gas Corporation Zurab Janzhgava, Trend
reports.
Abdullayev is confident that the Georgian infrastructure will help
realize the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romanian Interconnector (AGRI) project,
which involves transport of Azerbaijani liquefied gas through Georgia
and the Black Sea to Romania, a Socar statement said.
The head of SOCAR said that his company will show interest in assets
of the pipeline if the Georgian government agrees on privatization of
the gas pipeline.
Khetaguri and Janzhgava discussed steps needed to activate Georgia in
strategic energy projects, realization of AGRI and variants to speed
it up.
The president of SOCAR also had talks with Georgian officials on
topical issues of gasification of regions, connection of new
consumers, reliability of gas supplies of consumers in autumn and
winter.
They also discussed gas supplies for Georgia, reconstruction and
expansion of gas distribution networks, active participation of SOCAR
in providing oil and gas products for the Georgian market and their
transport through Georgia.
AGRI project is viewed in three versions - 2 cubic meters of gas
transported annually, 5 cubic meters and 8 cubic meters. The project's
cost varies from 1.2 billion to 4.5 billion euro.
On September 14, Baku, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary signed
a Baku declaration on AGRI project.
The project involves transport of Azerbaijani gas to the Georgian
coast of the Black Sea, where it will be liquefied at a special
terminal. Then it will be transported to Port Constanta. From there it
will be converted back into natural gas and transported to Romania and
other European countries.
