Baku News

30 November 2006 - Upstream onLine - Georgia's Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli has asked Azerbaijan and Turkey to cover most of Georgia's gas needs in 2007 to replace more expensive Russian supplies amid strained political relations with Moscow. "Georgia wants, and I think it will get, some 1.5 billion cubic metres of gas from the Shah Deniz field in 2007. I can quote Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, who told me during our talks that Azerbaijan will help Georgia sort out its problems," Nogaideli told Reuters. Georgia had been due to get a much smaller share of Shah Deniz volumes next year when BP and Statoil launch the giant field in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea and a pipeline to Turkey, via Georgia. Azerbaijan and Turkey are set to be the main buyers of the gas but they could in theory cede some volumes to Georgia, which consumes about 1.7 Bcm of Russian gas per year.