[ASIA] Azerbaijan restarts gas exportation to Georgia

Azerbaijan has restarted pumping natural gas to Georgia from April 23, said Rovnag Abdullayev, the President of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).

He added that 1.5 million cubic meters of gas a day is being delivered to Georgia, but didn’t release 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 voiced hope that Azerbaijan would not overcharge Georgia for natural gas and in the new agreement and the prices would be lower than that of Russia.

Georgia said it would continue importing natural gas from Azerbaijan if its price is lower than that of Russia ($235 per 1,000 cubic meters). 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