[ASIA] Azerbaijan raises gas price for Georgia

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Georgian National Oil and Gas Corporation signed a natural gas agreement for 2008, a source in the government of Azerbaijan told APA-Economics.

Under the new agreement, Azerbaijan increased the price of gas for Georgia.

"By the agreement, the parties undertook not to release the selling price they agreed. So, there is no official information about the price. Azerbaijan was previously predicted to charge Georgia $180 per 1,000 cubic meters. The price is in the order of $200. It is not as high as $261 as Russian media wrote," said the source.

Azerbaijan has restarted pumping 1.5 million cubic meters of gas a day natural gas to Georgia since April 23, not releasing the price.

Unofficial sources said Azerbaijan is likely to charge Georgia $180 per 1,000 cubic meters, compared to $120 Tbilisi paid until the gas deal expired in early January.

Georgian officials expressed hope that Azerbaijan would not overcharge Georgia for natural gas even in the new agreement and the prices would be lower than that of Russia. Georgia said early it would continue importing natural gas from Azerbaijan if it is priced lower than that of Russia ($235 per 1,000 cu m).

At present Georgia also takes 250 million cubic meters of gas as a transit tax for transportation of Azeri natural gas via Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Pipeline.

Source: Today.AZ