Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 3 / Trend /
The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom signed a supplement to their gas supplies agreement today. Based on the document, Azerbaijan will increase gas exports to Russia to 2 billion cubic meters per year from 2011, and to over 2 billion cubic meters per year from 2012, Gazprom reported.
The agreement was signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Baku.
"At today's meeting with our Azerbaijani colleague, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev, we analyzed the execution of our gas supply contract in January-August, as well as opportunities to develop our relations and to agree upon a new increase in purchase volumes," Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said today. "The document fully complies with our basic contract, which has no upper ceiling for the Azerbaijani gas supplies volume. Our territorial proximity, the lack of transit zones and the availability of existing pipeline infrastructure make expanding Azerbaijan-Russia gas cooperation more commercially viable."
The medium-term contract on the purchase and sale of Azerbaijani gas to Russia was signed between SOCAR and Gazprom in Baku on Oct. 14. The contract covers 2010-2014.
Under the agreement, Azerbaijan will supply gas no less than 500 million cubic meters to Russia annually. The contract does not specify a limit to the volume of gas supplies.
Azerbaijan began gas supplies to Russia on Jan. 1. Gazprom and SOCAR have also agreed upon the volumes of Azerbaijani gas to be exported to Russia in 2011. The figure will reach about 2 billion cubic meters next year.
According to SOCAR, the company exported more than 494.6 million cubic meters of gas to Russia in January-July. Russia received over 66.4 million cubic meters of gas in July compared to 81.54 million cubic meters in June.