Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.27 / Trend E. Ismailov /
Turkish state pipeline company Botas has paid $ 750 million of total debt for the difference in the cost of gas purchased by Turkey from the first phase of development of gas field Shah Deniz, Rovnag Abdullayev, the head of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) said today. Botas pays to Azerbaijan and partners on the project development.
Abdullayev said the first tranche was made in the amount of $500 million, the second - $250 million.
"Payments are made in normal mode," Abdullayev said.
Botas will completely pay the entire amount of debt worth $1.36 billion in the framework of the payments of difference in value of the Azerbaijani gas purchased by Turkey from the first phase of development of gas field Shah Deniz in spring, the State Oil Fund of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOFAZ) said earlier. The funds received from the state oil and gas projects and operations are accumulated in SOFAZ.
The contract to develop Shah Deniz was signed in June 1996. Participants are: BP (operator) - 25.5 percent; Statoil - 25.5 percent; NICO - 10 percent; Total - 10 percent; LukAgip - 10 percent; TPAO - 9 percent; and, SOCAR - 10 percent.
Earlier, Botas and SOCAR agreed on the price of Azerbaijani gas in the first and second stages of the Shah Deniz project and its transit through Turkish territory.
Until reaching the agreement, Azerbaijani gas is supplied to Turkey at $120 per 1,000 cubic meters. However, the cost of gas for consumers on Turkey's domestic market is more than $300 per 1,000 cubic meters (data from the official website of the Turkish company Botas).
The contract reads that the price of gas from the Shah Deniz field could be reviewed after one year of the launch of supplies.
Under the current contract, Turkey must receive 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas from Shah Deniz in the first stage of the field's development. Reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.