Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. I.Khalilova / The reconstruction of the Garadag underground gas reserve has been launched at the expense of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Alikhan Malikov, the president of the Azerigas CJSC, said. Presently, the volume of the gas reserve in Garadag made up 400 or 600 cu m.
There are two gas reserves in Azerbaijan. The reserves in Garadag and Galmas were filled with gas for the first time with 1bln cu m in 2006. It is planning to expand capacity of gas reserves to 3bln cu m for two years.
The gas pump is planning to increase by 1bln cu m and to reach totally to 2bln cu m in 2008.
The cost of the reconstruction of the gas reserve in Garadag made up $150 or $160mln. However; the cost of the project may be decreased in the future. Earlier it was planning to implement the project at the expense of loans. Azergas announced tender on the project, but later the tender was suspended.
The project stipulates projecting of gas compress station of natural gas with high pressure and gas cleaning equipment for reconstruction of Garadag gas reserve and to reach the volume of gas to 2.3bln cu m.