SOCAR talks implementation of AGRI project

The Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI) project is not dead, but its implementation needs time, Suleyman Gasimov, vice-president for economic issues at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, said, Romanian media reported.

Gasimov said that the project requires big investments.

“It is necessary to build a terminal in Georgia, and then another one in Romania,” he noted.

Currently, SOCAR participates in other projects – the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) – which envisage the supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Europe.

However, SOCAR's vice-president said that the AGRI project may be implemented if all its parties support the project’s implementation.

AGRI project envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to the Black Sea coast of Georgia via gas pipelines. Azerbaijani gas delivered to Georgia's Black Sea coast will be liquefied at a special terminal and following this, it will be delivered in tankers to a terminal at the Romanian port of Constanta.

Furthermore, it will be brought to the gaseous state and sent via Romanian gas infrastructure for meeting the demands of Romania and other European countries.

The cost of the project is estimated to be between 1.2 billion euros and 4.5 billion euros, according to the preliminary estimations.

The participants of the AGRI project are the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Georgia's Oil and Gas Corporation, as well as MVM (Hungary) and Romgaz (Romania).

The parties established the SC AGRI LNG Project Company SRL in February 2011 for the implementation of the project.
(Trend.az)