Baku, Azerbaijan, March 6
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The trial at the International Court of Arbitration on Turkey's suit against Iran on the price of supplied gas will last until late 2014, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said, the Turkish Sabah newspaper reported on March 6.
Ankara has for the second time appealed to the court of arbitration that the gas supply to Turkey by Iran hasn't been carried out in accordance to the contracted volumes, according to the minister.
Yildiz also stressed that the International Court of Arbitration will separately consider this issue.
The prices for gas proposed by Iran are not convenient for Turkey and given the current tariffs, it is irrelevant for Turkey to increase the volume of gas imported from Iran, according to the minister.
Ankara appealed to the International Court of Arbitration on the Iranian gas price in March 2012.
The agreement on the annual supply of 10 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran to Turkey was signed in 1996.
In 2013, the Turkish state pipeline company Botas imported 38.42 billion cubic meters of gas from various sources, as compared to 43.09 billion cubic meters in 2012.
Gas prices are not officially disclosed, but Turkey buys Iranian gas at $490 per 1000 cubic meters, according to Turkish media. Turkey pays $335 for one thousand cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas which is supplied via the South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline). The country pays $425 for 1000 cubic meters of Russian gas.
Turkey has contracts with Iran to supply 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year, with Russia it is 20 billion cubic meters of gas and with Azerbaijan - 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas.
Turkey also has an agreement with Algeria and Nigeria for the supply of 4.4 billion and 1.2 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas respectively per year.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.