Envoy: Revisions needed for AGRI project’s feasibility study

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

The Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI) project is not just an issue of strategic thinking; it is first of all an issue of commercial interest, said Romanian ambassador to Georgia Radu Liviu Horumba.

“For the moment, we have discussed the feasibility study that was done and this discussion continues at the governmental level,” the ambassador said in an interview with Georgia Today.

He pointed out that the price of oil, to which the gas price is connected, is lower today, compared to years ago. Therefore, some of the calculations have to be revised to see if the project is still feasible, added the ambassador.

“You have to look at the developments in the region and look very carefully into the capacity of suppliers and the demand of buyers,” said Horumba.

Earlier, Suleyman Gasimov, vice-president for economic issues at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR said that AGRI project is not dead, but its implementation needs time.

The Interconnector Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania-Hungary (AGRI) was designed as an integral part of the Southern Corridor, providing the shortest direct route for Caspian gas to European markets. Indeed, AGRI is expected to transport liquefied Azeri gas from Georgia, across the Black Sea, to a LNG terminal to be built on the Romanian Black Sea Coast.

From that point, the gas will be pumped through Romanian natural gas transmission system to Hungary, through the Interconnector between Romania and Hungary ( Arad – Szeghed ) to be transported further to the European market.

The cost of the project will vary from 1.2 billion euros to 4.5 billion euros, according to the preliminary estimations.

AGRI project offers to the countries of the region, the opportunity of a secure supplies and import diversification, to reduce its dependence on individual suppliers, by diversifying both supply sources and delivery channels.

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.