Azerbaijani Gas Import Rising in Georgia

Increasing import of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Georgia makes it Georgia’s main oil supplier.

Latest figures from Georgia’s National Statistics Department revealed that Azerbaijani gas import to its West-North neighbor has increased by 14.1% between January-August 2015.

According to Azerbaijani news agency, Azernews, Georgia imported some 967,670 metric tons of natural gas of oil - equivalent worth $201.76 million from Azerbaijan.

To compare the same period of last year, Georgia imported some 858,520 metric tons of gas of oil equivalent worth $176.77 million from Azerbaijan. The share of gas in Georgia’s total imports from Azerbaijan over the period was 56.4 percent.

Azerbaijan exports its gas to Georgia via a pipeline linking the two countries in the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan.

The pipeline’s capacity exceeds 2.5 billion cubic meters per year. Therefore, the service also reported that Georgia imported 186,100 tons of oil and petroleum products worth $96.4 million from Azerbaijan in January-August 2015, increasing in volume by about 6.6%, while total costs dropped by 39.2 percent [due to the decrease in oil prices] from the same period of 2014.

In total, Georgia has imported $443.13 million worth oil and petroleum products since early 2015, which is more than 284.58 million to compare the same period of the last year.

Azerbaijan and Georgia established diplomatic relations in 1992, a year after gaining independence from the Soviet Union. In October 1997, Azerbaijan and Georgia became two of the four founding members of GUAM, an organization that also includes Ukraine and Moldova.

Along with broad cooperation in regional development, transport, and other important economic projects, Azerbaijan and Georgia have long-standing and successful cooperation in the energy sector.

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR is deeply involved in the energy market of the neighboring South Caucasus republic.

According to the news agency, Azerbaijan has long been one of Georgia’s largest trade partners. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $1.35 billion in 2014. Azerbaijan mainly exports petroleum, petroleum oils and gases, gypsum, anhydrite, plaster and other products to Georgia, while the motor cars, live bovine animals, bars and rods of iron, and cement are the most imported goods from Georgia to Azerbaijan.