Azerbaijan, Russia seal major gas deal, more to come
Sunday, 5 September 2010
BAKU, Sept 4 (AFP): Azerbaijan will double gas exports to Russia in 2011 and increase them further from 2012, the countries said yesterday in a move that could undercut Europe's drive to secure Central Asian supplies.
The agreement between Azerbaijan state energy company SOCAR and Russia's Gazprom was signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Baku as both Moscow and the West vy for access to the energy-rich ex-Soviet state.
Medvedev and his host Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev praised growing economic ties and said the new accord was not directed at any rival project.
"There are different projects and we cannot and should not stand in the way of each other," Russian news agencies quoted Medvedev as saying at a news conference.
"Let those projects that are profitable win!" he was quoted as saying. "Russia and Azerbaijan are large players, resource suppliers and therefore we should agree and cooperate with each other."
Gazprom signed a deal with SOCAR to buy two billion cubic metres of gas in 2011, it said in a statement, adding that this amount will increase again from 2012.
An initial contract signed in October 2009 was doubled in December 2009 to one billion cubic meters.
"This means that Azerbaijan is giving priority to Russia, Gazprom when it comes to ramping up exports of its natural gas supplies," Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said in televised remarks.
He also said that Russia would like to secure even larger supplies for its planned pipeline known as South Stream, a rival to Europe's Nabucco gas project.
The agreement on increasing gas supplies may ultimately deprive the Nabucco pipeline of a portion of gas from Azerbaijan, analysts say.
The Nabucco project aims to deliver gas from the Caspian Sea region to Europe through Turkey starting in 2014 in order to ease European reliance on Russian supplies.
The agreement between Azerbaijan state energy company SOCAR and Russia's Gazprom was signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Baku as both Moscow and the West vy for access to the energy-rich ex-Soviet state.
Medvedev and his host Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev praised growing economic ties and said the new accord was not directed at any rival project.
"There are different projects and we cannot and should not stand in the way of each other," Russian news agencies quoted Medvedev as saying at a news conference.
"Let those projects that are profitable win!" he was quoted as saying. "Russia and Azerbaijan are large players, resource suppliers and therefore we should agree and cooperate with each other."
Gazprom signed a deal with SOCAR to buy two billion cubic metres of gas in 2011, it said in a statement, adding that this amount will increase again from 2012.
An initial contract signed in October 2009 was doubled in December 2009 to one billion cubic meters.
"This means that Azerbaijan is giving priority to Russia, Gazprom when it comes to ramping up exports of its natural gas supplies," Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said in televised remarks.
He also said that Russia would like to secure even larger supplies for its planned pipeline known as South Stream, a rival to Europe's Nabucco gas project.
The agreement on increasing gas supplies may ultimately deprive the Nabucco pipeline of a portion of gas from Azerbaijan, analysts say.
The Nabucco project aims to deliver gas from the Caspian Sea region to Europe through Turkey starting in 2014 in order to ease European reliance on Russian supplies.