Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 14 / Trend /
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania signed an agreement establishing a joint venture under the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI) gas transportation project this week, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) told Trend today.
The agreement was signed by SOCAR, the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation and the Romanian Romqaz.
The joint venture will operate in Bucharest. Each participant has a 33-percent equity share. The joint venture will engage in regulatory work to prepare a feasibility study and find investments.
Three capacity volumes are being considered for the project, Azerbaijani Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said:, placing the proposed figures at 2, 5 and 8 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
According to preliminary data, the cost varies from 1.2 to 4.5 billion euro depending on capacity.
A memorandum of understanding on the AGRI project was signed in Bucharest on April 13.
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Romania also signed an agreement on the establishment of a joint venture in the project to transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe on May 12.
The project to supply Azerbaijani liquefied natural gas to Romania envisages the construction of two terminals for liquefied natural gas - one in Georgia and the other in Romania. According to preliminary data, the project will cost 4.6 billion euro.
The project envisages transporting Azerbaijani gas via pipelines to the Black Sea coast of Georgia, where the gas will be liquefied at a special terminal. The gas will then be delivered to a terminal at the Romanian port of Constanta via tankers.