"Georgia-Azerbaijan agreement provides stable gas supply"

Georgia is hosting the tenth international conference of "Oil & Gas, Infrastructure and Energy" (GIOGIE 2011). The Georgian Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri opened the conference and spoke of future energy projects and prospects for the Georgian energy sector.

He informed about the planned construction of 13 hydroelectric power stations by 2015 and power lines that will connect energy systems of Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as Georgia and Turkey.

Khetaguri stressed that Georgia intends to double the electricity export in 2015 and that by this time an infrastructure to export electricity will be set up. Energy security issues and Georgia’s efforts to diversify energy supplies were also tackled. The importance of the agreement with Azerbaijan, which provides the country with natural gas received special emphasis.

"This agreement allows us to consistently get gas, the price of which will not change for 10 years. That provides an opportunity to develop a stable economy and provide the population with gas," Khetaguri said.

A timely decision is needed on the construction of a gas liquefaction plant under the AGRI project and that is important because it will allow for the delivery of Azerbaijani gas to Europe.

The two-day conference discusses the work in the oil and gas, energy and infrastructure sectors of Georgia, issues of international energy security, energy corridor the Caspian Sea - Black Sea, transportation, prospects for cooperation between international and local oil companies, regional energy projects, energy policy of Azerbaijan and other themes.


/Trend/