Georgian Oil & Gas Corp analyst talks Azerbaijani, Russian gas supplies

Georgia increased purchases of Azerbaijani gas to 2.156 billion cubic meters in 2016, said Liana Jervalidze, an analyst of the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, Apr. 26.

She made her remarks in Baku during ‘The 2nd SOCAR International Caspian and Central Asia Downstream Forum – Trading, Logistics, Refining, Petrochemicals’.

Jervalidze said that 250 million cubic meters of gas were also delivered from Russia, including 185 million cubic meters as payment for transit of the Russian gas to Armenia and 66 million cubic meters of commercial gas.

In 2017, Georgia will switch to a new system of mutual settlements with Russia’s Gazprom for the transit of Russian gas, Jervalidze claimed..

She also claimed that in 2017, 50 percent of the transit will be paid for by gas and the remaining 50 percent will be paid for in money, and in 2018, payments for transit will be fully made in money.

She added that this practice fully complies with the modern principles of relations in the gas market.

Jervalidze noted that Georgia will have the opportunity to buy Russian gas during peak consumption periods, in case of an emergency or if the supply from Azerbaijan is not sufficient.

Meanwhile, Georgia is not committing itself to buying certain volumes of gas from Gazprom, which she claimed is beneficial for Georgia.

Jervalidze said Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR is a strategic supplier of gas to Georgia, and added that long-term contracts were signed with SOCAR on gas supplies to Georgia until 2028.

The analyst also noted that SOCAR’s subsidiary, SOCAR Georgia Gas, has invested about $1 billion in Georgia in 10 years. (trend.az)