Azerbaijan to Increase Gas Prices for Turkey

A top official of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has said that the price of Azerbaijani gas exported to Turkey will increase to match the world prices, Azerbaijan’s ANS TV has reported.

SOCAR Vice-President Elsad Nasirov said that according to an agreement signed five years ago, Turkey is currently paying 120 US dollars per 1,000 cu.m. of natural gas produced at the Sah Daniz deposit, ANS said.

In turn, the Day.az website said that Azerbaijan has proposed pumping Kazakh and Turkmen oil through the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline. “According to the 1996 interstate agreement, only Azerbaijani oil can be transported through the territory of Russia. If a third country’s oil is transported by the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline, the transit fee will increase. On the other hand, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are happy because they will get an export route for their oil. Azerbaijan will benefit from an increase in the trade turnover with all three countries,” Day.az quoted Nasirov as saying.

Asked whether this proposal will affect the amount of Azerbaijani oil transported by the northern route, Elsad Nasirov replied that in this case, Azerbaijani oil, which is more expensive than Russia’s Urals oil, will be transported either by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, by the Baku-Supsa pipeline, or by railway to the Qulevi terminal in Georgia, thus yielding more benefit.

Originally published by ANS TV, Baku, in Azeri 1300 5 Jun 08; Day.az Baku, in Russian 1228 5 Jun 08.

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