BAKU SEES TURKEY AS TOUGH CUSTOMER ON GAS EXPORTS
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
19.11.2009 16:08 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Amid a diplomatic chill, Azerbaijan and Turkey
opened a new round of talks November 16 on an energy export price.
Recent agreements on gas supplies to Bulgaria, Iran and Russia suggest
that Baku is exploring alternative export routes as a means to pressure
Ankara into paying significantly more for Azerbaijani natural gas.
Baku and Ankara have been unable to fix a mutually acceptable gas
price, even though talks have been going on since April 2008.
Azerbaijan claims that the $120 per 1,000 cubic meters (tcm) that
Ankara now pays, a price set in 2001, is 30 percent below international
rate, and does not correspond with the fresh influx of production to
come from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz Stage II gas field.
Baku is seeking to more than double the amount that Ankara pays,
to $250/tcm, EurasiaNet reports.
Article further says that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in October
declared that, given the stalemate with Ankara, Baku would consider
alternative export options, including Russia, Iran and Bulgaria.
In an October 29 interview with CNN Turk, Turkish Energy Minister
Taner Yildiz stated that the price Turkey pays for gas from Shah
Deniz is being discussed as part of a package with transit rates for
Azerbaijani gas traveling to Europe via Turkish pipelines. Ankara
proposes that Baku pay a "fairly competitive" price of $2.36 for each
100 kilometers of Turkish territory crossed by 1,000 cubic meters
of Azerbaijani gas – a price 24 cents lower than Russia’s own tariff
for the same distance, Yildiz claimed.
A diplomatic chill between the two longtime allies appears to be
hampering efforts to settle pricing differences. The October 10
signing of protocols for rapprochement with Azerbaijani foe Armenia set
Baku’s nerves on edge; a tussle over Turkey’s removal of Azerbaijani
flags from a World Cup qualifier soccer match attended by Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan, and Azerbaijan’s removal of Turkish flags
from a Baku cemetery further deepened the sour feelings. All flags
have since been restored, but suspicions seem to linger.