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Turkey is ready to pay the entire cost of Azerbaijani gas after reaching the agreement between the parties on the issue, official representative of Turkey's Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources Mehmet Akif told Trend Capital over phone on Monday.
"The parties have a definite agreement on the price of gas within the first stage of developing Shakh Deniz field. But the agreement on the second stage and transit has not been reached yet. All these issues are considered in the package. But, after reaching the agreement, the price difference will be fully paid, the representative of Turkey's Ministry of Energy said.
According to him, the price of gas within the first stage of development of Shah Deniz has not been announced because this question is the subject of commercial negotiations. Earlier, Turkish media spread information with reference to Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz that the parties agreed on the value of Azerbaijani gas from Shah Deniz-1 to the amount of $300 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Today, Azerbaijani gas is supplied to Turkey at a price of $120 per 1,000 cubic meters. However, the cost of gas for consumers on the domestic market of Turkey is more than $300 per 1000 cubic meters (data from the official website of the Turkish company Botas).
The contract concluded with Turkey says that the price of gas from Shah Deniz field can be reconsidered in a year of supplies, i.e, the new price will be applied from April 15, 2008.
SOCAR representatives, participants of the negotiations on the gas, the gas issue between Azerbaijan and Turkey is discussed in the package. It includes information about the cost of gas within the first stage of Shakh Deniz field, the cost of gas for Turkey from the second stage of the project (start of production after 2016) and the agreement on transit of Azerbaijani gas via Turkey to Europe.
"Coordination of one of the items in discussed package does not mean the achievement of full agreement in the negotiations", SOCAR representative said.
At present, topic of discussions between the parties is the price of gas within the second phase of Shah Deniz and the transit of Azerbaijani gas via Turkey
The agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey on the transit will allow the Azerbaijani side to export its gas to Europe.
The most promising route of delivery of Azerbaijani gas to Europe is South Energy Corridor, which includes the Nabucco project, ITGI and Trans Adriatic pipeline. However, the unresolved issue of transit of Azerbaijani gas via Turkey pushes Azerbaijan to seek alternative routes.
Under the current contract, Turkey must receive 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas from Shah Deniz in the first stage of the field's development.
Shah Deniz reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters.
The contract to develop the offshore Shah Deniz field was signed on June 4, 1996. Participants to the agreement are: BP (operator) - 25.5 percent, Statoil Hydro - 25.5 percent, NICO - 10 percent, Total - 10 percent, LukAgip - 10 percent, TPAO - 9 percent, SOCAR-10 percent.
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