Nikoloz Gilauri, Georgian Energy Minister, visiting Turkey as a member of the Georgian delegation, said that the final results of the negotiations on supplying Georgia with gas produced from Azerbaijan offshore gas condensate Shahdaniz field will be made public after the meeting between Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili and Turkey Prime-Minister Teyyub Rejeb Erdogan held in Istanbul this Thursday. The Final details of the negotiations should be agreed with the Turkish Prime-Minister, Mr. Gilauri told News-Georgia.
I am sure that the population will have both electric power and gas up to January, 2007. We have already had an agreement on general principles with Azerbaijan and Turkey, said the Georgian Minister, Trend reports referring to RIA Novosti.
Our final position is expected to be agreed with the Turkish Prime-Minister. We are also about to come to an agreement on the price of the gas from the Turkish quota, whether that will be as a compensation in the form of gas or the return in the form of electric power, said Mr. Gilauri.
Georgian quota on gas being produced from Shahdaniz for 2007 is over 250 mln. cubic meters from the Turkish quota. As to the price of the gas, it is currently under consideration.
The commercial gas production was launched on December 15. 5.6 mln. cubic meters of gas and 2,500 tons of gas condensate are produced from the first development well per day. The depth of the first development well is 6,500 meters. It was drilled from a hundredmeter sea depth.
The contract on the development of Shahdaniz field was signed in 1996 in Baku. The parties to the project are: BP (operator - 25,5%), Statoil - 25,5%, SOCAR, LUKoil, NICO and TotalFina Elf- both 10%, and TPAO - 9%.
The gas reserves of Shahdaniz is estimated at 1 bln. cubic meters of gas and over 100 mln. tons of gas condensate.