TURKEY, AZERBAIJAN HAGGLE OVER GAS PRICE

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.09.2008 18:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ They may be cultural cousins and strategic allies,
but when it comes to energy exports, it’s strictly business between
Turkey and Azerbaijan. The two countries continue to bicker over
the price and volume of natural gas to be transported by the
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline in 2010, Eurasianet reports.

According to Turkish media, Azerbaijan is dissatisfied with the price
that Turkey wants to pay for gas deliveries. Details, such as the exact
price and volume under discussion, have not been made public. News of
the difficulty in the Turkish-Azerbaijani talks comes amid a push by
the Russian state-controlled conglomerate Gazprom to secure a major
increase in the amount of gas that it imports from Azerbaijan. The
Russian company has reportedly offered to pay roughly $300 per thousand
cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas, according to informed sources.

In comments broadcast September 22 by the ANS television channel in
Baku, Energy Minister Natik Aliyev revealed that Gazprom had made
"attractive offers." He went on to indicate Baku intended to keeps
its options open in response to changing global circumstances. "Due
to events happing in the world today, we keep a very flexible policy
in regards to security, reliability of energy corridors. Azerbaijan
has many options," Aliyev said.

"All offers must be considered to ensure that not only Azerbaijan’s
economic, but also political interests are satisfied," Aliyev
continued.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) route is a key part of a nascent Caspian
Basin energy network that operates beyond Russian control. Despite
the snag concerning BTE, Turkey and Azerbaijan continue to talk
about collaborative ventures. On September 9, for example, Turkish
and Azerbaijani confirmed their mutual intention to move ahead with
the long-planned Nabucco pipeline project.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress