Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept.2 / Trend, E. Ismailov /
The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) will provide all of the country's gas users with electronic meters outfitted with smart cards within three years.
SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told Trend said there were roughly 1.2 million gas users in the country as of Sept. 1.
The decision was made to provide the gas users with electronic meters as their old, mechanical meters are more and more often crashing, which results in financial losses.
By late 2010, roughly 250,000 new electronic meters will be installed in Baku and the surrounding settlements.
Abdullayev added that SOCAR also hopes to modernize the gas system by an online control mechanism allowing users to monitor their gas usage.
SOCAR is continuing to reconstruct the gas system in Baku and on the Absheron Peninsula. The system is the largest in the country, covering 650,000 users.
SOCAR has received proposals to implement the project from E. ON Ruhrgas and RWE.
Abdullaev said 90 percent of the existing infrastructure should be updated to renew the gas system in Baku and on the Absheron Peninsula.