Gazprom

The growth in purchases of Azerbaijani gas by Russian Gazprom proves the readiness of the company to purchase the Azerbaijani gas by commercial prices and also creates serious competition to alternative routes of its transportation.

RBK reports that the due statement came from general director of the Institute of National Energy Sergey Pravosudov commenting on the document signed between Gazprom and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR today.

The sides agreed to raise the purchases of Azerbaijani gas to 2bn cubic meters from 2011 and possible raising of purchases in the future.

According to Pravosudov, Gazprom’s strategic goal is also the willingness to demonstrate the advantage of the Russian route of gas transportation as the most reliable one. The agreements on raising gas purchases as well as Gazprom’s readiness to raise them prove the strengthening of positions of the Russian company in this region, Pravodudov says.

According to the general director of the Fund of National Energy Security Konstantin Simonov, the signed document allowing the raise the volumes of gas supplies is a serious sign that Azerbaijan has no political commitments before Europe. Gazprom offers extremely favorable economic provisions to Azerbaijan by means of which Azerbaijan can sell its gas by European prices, only paying for transportation.

As it has already been reported Gazprom and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan have signed an addition to the working contract of sale and purchase of the Azerbaijani natural gas. In line with the document, the volumes of Azerbaijani gas purchases from 2011 must grow to 2bn cubic meters, from 2012 they must top 2 bn cubic meters. The addition to the contract was signed in Baku within the framework of the official visit of Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev to Azerbaijan which involves Gazprom president Alexei Miller.

The Russian company says that the first gas from Azerbaijan was supplied to Russia on 1 January 2010. The purchase volumes were coordinated on the level of 1 bn cubic meters a year. Earlier Miller stressed Gazprom’s readiness to purchase the entire volume of “free” gas from Azerbaijan

1news.az