Russia’s Gazprom to double Azerbaijan gas imports
Russian state-controlled gas company Gazprom says it has signed a deal to double its gas imports from Azerbaijan.
The agreement was signed on Monday in the Russian ski resort of Krasnaya Polyana by Gazprom chief executive Aleksei Miller and the head of Azerbaijan's state-owned energy company Socar, Rovnag Abdullayev.
Gazprom said the volume of gas purchases from Azerbaijan will grow from 1.5 billion to 3 billion cubic meters this year, and will rise further in 2013.
"We are doubling the purchase of Azerbaijani gas for the second year running," Miller said. "The Azerbaijani-Russian energy partnership is developing at a good pace. This reflects the mutual desire to further increase the volumes of hydrocarbon supplies. The lack of the 'ceiling' of the volume of gas purchases, geographical proximity, the presence of well-established gas pipeline infrastructure, excluding transit zones, allow Azerbaijan to export natural gas to Russia more economically."
The Gazprom CEO also said cooperation with Russia was more profitable for Azerbaijan than supplies to Europe.
"We can offer a suitable price and our price is more commercially viable than the prices of European consumers," Miller added.
Socar President Abdullayev told the Baku-based ANS TV channel that the agreement with Gazprom was signed "on very beneficial terms".
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