SOCAR: AGRI Competes With Nabucco For Precedence In Azerbaijan

05.26.2011 By Andrei Cîrchelan

Azerbaijan will consider the AGRI gas route project a priority if it turns out it can be constructed before the Nabucco pipeline, according to Vitaliy Baylarbayov, vice-president of Azeri state-run oil and gas company SOCAR.

The company official said the first project to be completed "wins", and if the feasibility study shows that the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI) can be completed before the Nabucco pipeline, then AGRI will take precedence.

The statements were made after a meeting between Baylarbayov and Romanian economy minister Ion Ariton, who did not make any comments.

The AGRI route involves the shipping of liquefied natural gas from the Caspian Sea, through Georgia, to the Constanta harbor in southeastern Romania.

Asked whether Azerbaijan would be able to supply has for AGRI and Nabucco at the same time, Baylarbayov confirmed, but said this would only be achievable after 2017-2020.

The managing board president of the AGRI project company, Corneliu Condrea, who was also present at the meeting, said AGRI cannot be compared the EU-backed pipeline Nabucco, since the former doesn't even have a complete feasibility study yet.

He added the meeting was also joined by international companies interested in unfolding AGRI's feasibility study, including Flex LNG (Norway), GE Oil and Gas (Poland), GET (Turkey), KOGAS (South Korea), Penspen (Great Britain), Technip (Italy) and Japanese companies Totalgas and Tokyo Gas.

Condrea said early May that AGRI requires an investment estimated between EUR1.2 billion and EUR4.5 billion, depending on transport capacity.

The AGRI project company includes Romanian Romgaz, Azeri SOCAR and Georgian GOGC.