Yesterday in Ankara, the Energy Ministries of Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the supply of natural gas to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR)
The Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline will be designed for the annual supply of 500 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas from Turkey to the NAR, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said.
“The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on natural gas supplies to the NAR is the first step in the implementation of this project. We hope that this project will be implemented in a short time,” said Dönmez before the signing ceremony of the Memorandum.
He said that the length of the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline in Turkey will be approximately 85 km. The project also plans to build one gas metering station.
“This project will strengthen the brotherhood and strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Turkey,” the Minister said.
According to him, Azerbaijani gas will be supplied from Turkey to the NAR through this gas pipeline, the state-owned companies SOCAR and BOTAS will be engaged in the implementation of this project.
As reported, the issue of building the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline was discussed in Baku on February 25, 2020 within the framework of the official visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Azerbaijan. The President of Turkey stated that the implementation of this project will greatly facilitate gas supply to Nakhchivan.
NAR does not have a common border with the main territory of Azerbaijan and has borders with Iran, Armenia and Turkey. At present, gas supply to the NAR is carried out on the basis of a swap of Azerbaijani gas supplies to Iran. The term of the contract with Iran for gas supplies to the NAR ends in 2025.
NAR annually consumes about 350-360 mcm of gas. To deliver this volume of gas, Iran receives another 15% of the gas for its services. This is a very high fee for transit services. Azerbaijan has several times applied to the Iranian side with a request to reduce tariffs, but the state gas company of Iran rejected the proposal of official Baku.
Caspian Barrel
