Azerbaijan may turn to a liquefied natural gas project if
proposed rates via the planned Nabucco pipeline and competing links to Europe are too expensive, ANS television reported.
“If the tariffs are too
high, we can choose AGRI,” Rovnaq Abdullayev, president of the State Oil Co. of
Azerbaijan, said in comments broadcast on the privately owned channel late
yesterday. He was referring to the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania project to ship
Azeri gas as LNG to world markets.
Azerbaijan wants to ensure low transportation
rates for gas from its offshore Shah Deniz field, which is operated by BP, as
pipeline projects vie for supplies. The projects include the OMV AG-led Nabucco
link, Statoil ASA, EGL and E.ON AG’s Trans Adriatic Pipeline and the
Interconnector Italy-Turkey-Greece led by Edison SpA, Depa SA and Boru Hatlari
Ile Petrol Tasima AS, or Botas. Russia’s
OAO Gazprom has also said it is willing to buy all of Azeribaijan’s gas.