BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 29
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Turkey’s Energy Markets Regulatory Authority (EPDK) has announced the Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) to be eligible to book all the spot capacity for Caspian gas imports offered at the Turkgozu border point, Trend reports with reference to EPDK.
BOTAS will be able to import 7,000,000 cubic meters of gas per day for the rest of the year, says EPDK.
BOTAS and the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company (AGSC), the company representing the Shah Deniz consortium, are said to be in talks over a possible renewal of the agreement on supplying 6.6 billion cubic meters of Shah Deniz 1 gas to Turkey per year. The 2001 contract for delivering 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Turkey from Azerbaijan expired on April 16, 2021.
Simon Pirani, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute of Energy Studies believes that The Shah Deniz I contract with BOTAS is likely to be renewed eventually.
The expert believes that first, volumes are likely to be reduced, as the field is in natural decline, and BOTAS is also contracted to purchase 6 bcm/year from Shah Deniz II until 2033.
“Second, the buyer will push for price formation at a lower level, in line with market trends.14 Third, the ToP obligation will surely be cut from its previous level, 80 percent. Due to the importance of maintaining steady output of condensate, as mentioned above, this is an issue on which the Shah Deniz consortium may be reluctant to give ground – while, for BOTAS, increasing the flexibility of offtake has become central to its gas purchasing strategy.”
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