Azerbaijan pumps more gas to Georgia as Russia cuts off

"The ratio of Azeri gas imports to Russian imports was 85% to 15% during the first quarter while Azerbaijan's share will rise to 50% over the year. The average price Georgia pays will be $165 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas," KazTransGaz-Tbilisi executive director told APA Bureau.

Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation said that Gazprom is to suspend exports to Georgia to carry out remedial works on the pipeline in Russia.
 
The corporation declined to clarify how much additional Azeri gas it is going to import during the repair period because the country's daily needs for natural gas is between 4 million and 5 million cubic meters while it is currently importing 1 million cubic meters of gas per day from Azerbaijan.

"There will be no shortage in the country. We have, in advance, agreed with Azerbaijan to import more," the corporation press service said.

As per the initial agreement, Azerbaijan will pump additional gas to Georgia from April 17.

The corporation president Aleksandr Khetaguri told a press conference that the country is going to receive some 4mln cubic meters of gas per day from Azerbaijan from April 17.

For 2007, Georgia will receive 250mln cubic meters of Shah Deniz gas as transit tax.

Azerbaijan stopped supplying additional 1.3mln cubic meters of natural gas a day to Georgia in early April, saying it exported extra gas to help its neighbor in winter.