Baku seeks to build gas terminal on the Black Sea
Azerbaijan offers to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export
terminal on the Black Sea coast, the country’s Minister of Industry
and Energy Natig Aliyev has said, in a statement that comes days
after a senior Georgian official said Tbilisi hopes to offer an
alternative route to the European markets for Azerbaijani gas. The
proposal will be announced during discussions with a Romanian
delegation, due in Baku in three to four days.
The Azerbaijani government believes that Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania should look into the possibility of jointly creating such a facility.
"In my view, we could discuss the idea of creating a trilateral LNG export terminal on the Black Sea," Aliyev said in an interview with Platts in London. He added that a working group might be established to explore opportunities for the project.
Georgia’s First Deputy Minister of Energy, Mariam Valishvili, said earlier the country intends to build such a terminal on its Black Sea coast. Valishvili said gas could be supplied through the existing BP-operated South Caucasus gas pipeline (SCP), which is already carrying Azerbaijani gas to Turkey via Georgia, and carried to the coast at Supsa, a Black Sea port city in western Georgia, through existing lines which are currently being rehabilitated. There the gas can be turned into LNG in a plant with an initial capacity of between 5bn-10bn cubic metres per year. That gas will then be shipped by special LNG tankers across the Black Sea to the Romanian port of Constanta, where Romania's state gas company Romgaz is already developing plans for an LNG import terminal. Georgia plans to be part of the corridor for gas supplies.
Azerbaijan produces most of its gas from the giant Shahdaniz field in the Caspian Sea.*
The Azerbaijani government believes that Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania should look into the possibility of jointly creating such a facility.
"In my view, we could discuss the idea of creating a trilateral LNG export terminal on the Black Sea," Aliyev said in an interview with Platts in London. He added that a working group might be established to explore opportunities for the project.
Georgia’s First Deputy Minister of Energy, Mariam Valishvili, said earlier the country intends to build such a terminal on its Black Sea coast. Valishvili said gas could be supplied through the existing BP-operated South Caucasus gas pipeline (SCP), which is already carrying Azerbaijani gas to Turkey via Georgia, and carried to the coast at Supsa, a Black Sea port city in western Georgia, through existing lines which are currently being rehabilitated. There the gas can be turned into LNG in a plant with an initial capacity of between 5bn-10bn cubic metres per year. That gas will then be shipped by special LNG tankers across the Black Sea to the Romanian port of Constanta, where Romania's state gas company Romgaz is already developing plans for an LNG import terminal. Georgia plans to be part of the corridor for gas supplies.
Azerbaijan produces most of its gas from the giant Shahdaniz field in the Caspian Sea.*
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
Subscribe
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!