Azerbaijan, Turkey to haggle over gas price next week

Azerbaijan and Turkey will hold the next round of talks to set a price for natural gas Azerbaijan is supplying to Turkey, President of Azerbaijan State oil Company (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev said.

He said the parties have not reached agreement on gas price but agreed to continue negotiations on the matter.

He also noted that the gas price should be calculated on a special formula with taking account the price of oil.

Turkey pays $120 for 1,000 cubic meters of Azeri gas in accordance with the old price which expired on April 2008.

Earlier, Turkish media quoted an unnamed source as saying Azerbaijan would charge Turkey about $200-$250 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, compared to $120 it charges until now.

Turkish energy minister said Turkey would pay the difference between the old price it has paid for Azeri gas since April 2008 after the gas agreement expired and the new price to be agreed on with Azerbaijan.

/APA/