GEORGIA REPAIRS PIPELINE, RESTORES RUSSIAN GAS SUPPLY TO ARMENIA

RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 20 2006

TBILISI, December 19 (RIA Novosti) – Georgia said Wednesday it has
restored Russian natural gas supplies to Armenia amid fears the latter
could face gas shortages this winter.

The Georgian Oil & Gas Corporation (GOGC) said it has repaired a
section of the pipeline pumping Russian gas to Georgia and Armenia,
which was damaged by an avalanche in the early hours of December 18.

"The damaged section has been repaired and is undergoing tests,"
company director Alexander Khetaguri said.

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday that Armenia’s underground
gas storage facilities may be empty this winter if Georgia fails to
restore its pipeline pumping Russian gas on time.

"If repair work continues for a long time, Armenia may have no more
gas in its underground storage facilities this winter," the official
spokesman for the state-run natural gas monopoly, Sergei Kupriyanov,
said.

Kupriyanov said the Georgian Gas Transportation Company, a GOGC’s
asset, promised to repair the pipeline Monday but later said it will
take several days.

A reserve branch pumping 1.2 million cubic meters of gas per day is
currently being used to ensure supplies to Armenia, which in the past
received around 10 million cubic meters per day in winter.