ARMENIAN GAS SUPPLIES ADEQUATE

United Press International
Jan 12 2009

YEREVAN, Armenia, Jan. 12 (UPI) — Armenian gas supplies are sufficient
days after officials in the Republic of Georgia halted transits
through a major resource artery, officials said.

Lusine Harutyunyan, a representative of the Armenian Energy Ministry,
said officials were in Georgia to survey damage and repair work on a
pipeline that burst last week, Public Radio of Armenia reported Monday.

"The works are carried out round the clock, and Georgian partners
assure that the reconstruction will be completed tonight or tomorrow,
and Georgian gas will flow to the republic," the representative said.

Georgian officials Friday reported a "significant" gas leak at one of
Georgia’s major pipelines to Armenia, the Kazakh-Saguramo gas pipeline.

The disruption brought speculation that Armenia would look to a
pipeline with Iran to secure additional gas reserves, though officials
said that alternative was not necessary because of sufficient gas
storage.

The disruption was not linked to the debt row between Ukraine and
Russia that halted gas supplies to Europe.

Armenia consumes about 300 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.