Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania Strike Liquefied Natural Gas Deal

Bulgaria’s northern neighbor Romania has made a crucial deal with Azerbaijan and Georgia, through which liquefied natural gas will be transited from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

The memorandum of understanding was signed on Tuesday by Romanian Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Environment Adriean Videanu, Minister for Industry and Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Natig Aliyev, and Georgian Minister of Energy Alexander Khetaguri, according to a release issued by the Romanian Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business Environment (MECMA).

The memorandum provides for creating a joint company named AGRI (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania Interconnection), which will prepare a feasibility study for transporting Azeri natural gas to the European Union.

The head office of the AGRI organization will be in Bucharest. The project envisages the construction of liquefied natural gas terminals in Georgia and Romania.

The initial plan is that natural gas from Azerbaijan should be pumped to one of the Georgian Black Sea ports where it can be liquefied and be transported by boat to the Romanian port of Constanca for further transit to European consumers.

“The Memorandum of Understanding concluded between the three sides will allow the implementation of the natural gas transport project called ‘Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania Interconnection (AGRI)’. Romania will insist this one becomes one of the priority projects at European level”, stated Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Environment in Romania Adriean Videanu, as cited by Financiarul.ro.

„It is likely that AGRI project is finalized prior to Nabucco project. I must say that all the natural gas transport projects to Europe are complementary. The project brings energy resources from the Caspian zone to the EU. It will be used as well for the domestic markets and for the EU. Romania finalized its interconnection with Hungary and is to finish the one with Bulgaria. As such, Romania will play a very important role in natural gas supply to Europe”, added the Romanian Minister of Economy.

With its agreement with Azerbaijan and Georgia, Romania seems to have come ahead of Bulgaria which has been trying to hammer out a similar deal with the Southern Caucasus countries. The latest news from this development came in mid March 2010 (READ HERE).

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