Georgia, Azerbaijan Reportedly Agree on Gas, But Questions Remain

Azerbaijan will provide 1 million cubic meters of gas per day to Georgia during the winter period, Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli told reporters after talks with the Azerbaijani leadership in Baku on December 25.

Details of deal, including the price, have not been disclosed. PM Nogaideli did, however, note that ?the price will be acceptable for us.?

It also remains unclear whether this gas is part of Georgia?s Shah-Deniz quota ? 250 million cubic meters in 2007 ? or if it is an additional amount.

Reports also say that Georgian Energy Minister Nika Gilauri, who is accompanying Nogaideli in Azerbaijan, will stay in Baku for further talks with the Azerbaijani side.

Meanwhile, on December 25 the English-language newspaper Turkish Daily News quoted Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi G?le as saying on December 23 that additional talks between Azerbaijani, Georgia and Turkish officials will soon take place in Istanbul over the terms of the redistribution of Shah-Denis gas shares between the three countries.

This report puts into question a statement by Georgian Energy Minister Nika Gilauri, who said on Sunday that he had agreed with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara on December 22 on the terms of redistribution of Shah-Deniz quotas. According to this agreement, as reported by Gilauri, Georgia would receive additional 800 million cubic meters of Shah-Deniz gas from the Turkish quota.

The Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi declined to comment about the reported agreement between the Turkish and Georgian Energy Ministers.

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