Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 27 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
The accident at the Mozdok-Kazi Magomed pipeline that occurred in Dagestan, had no effect on gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Russia, a source in the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) told Trend on Monday.
The source said the accident did not affect either the volume or the pressure of the gas. Gas is supplied to Russia at volume of three billion cubic meters a year.
"The accident occurred outside the territory of Azerbaijan and in no way affected the supply. Supply of gas is carried out taking into account the amount envisaged for this year," the source said.
According to information released by the Russian mass media outlets, as a result of the accident at the Mozdok-Kazi Magomed pipeline eight settlements in Kizilyurt and Khasavyurt districts of Dagestan were left without gas. Repair work to restore the damaged section of the pipeline was to begin on 27 February and be completed by noon.
SOCAR and Gazprom signed a contract on sale (with a possibility of prolongation) of Azerbaijani gas on October 14, 2009. According to addendum to a contract signed in early September, 2010 in Baku, Gazprom will get two billion cubic metres in 2011 and over two billion in 2012. However, the Russian side did not get the full amount of planned volumes last year.
Under an additional agreement signed between SOCAR and Gazprom, the volume of Azerbaijani gas purchased by Russia will exceed 3 billion cubic meters in 2013. The additional agreement to double the volume of gas purchased by Russia (from 1.5 to 3 billion cubic meters of gas ) was signed by the parties in Sochi on January 24, 2012.
Azerbaijani gas supplies to Russia started from Jan. 1, 2010.