APRIL 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR and BP agreed an important engineering and design step towards the 2nd phase development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea. Shah Deniz’s development is vital both for the expansion of Azerbaijan’s energy sector and for hitting European gas demand.
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(News report from Issue No. 084, published on April 20 2012)
APRIL 5 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Wendy’s, the US fast-food chain, said it would team up with the Georgia-based Wissol Group to open 25 restaurants in Georgia and Azerbaijan over the next 10 years. The first restaurant will open in Tbilisi in 2013. The announcement is a boost to Georgia which has been pushing for more foreign investment.
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(News report from Issue No. 083, published on April 13 2012)
APRIL 9 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Socar, Azerbaijan’s state oil company, said its oil exports through the pipeline running from Baku to Ceyhan in Turkey (BTC) dropped 7.8% in Q1 2012 compared to Q1 2011. Socar gave no reason for the oil output drop through BTC, an important energy route to Europe. In 2011 Azerbaijan’s oil production fell by 10%.
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(News report from Issue No. 083, published on April 13 2012)
APRIL 1 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan started pumping gas to China under an agreement signed in 2010. The deal continues to cement China’s dominance over Central Asia’s energy reserves. Uzbekistan has already had to divert gas from Tajikistan to meet its contract with China.
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(News report from Issue No. 082, published on April 6 2012)
MARCH 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Toronto-based Centerra Gold cut gold output at its Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan by a third, threatening the stability of the Kyrgyz economy. Kumtor accounts for around 12% of Kyrgyzstan’s annual income. Centerra Gold, 33% owned by the Kyrgyz government, blamed the output cut on excessive ice in the mine.
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(News report from Issue No. 081, published on March 30 2012)
MARCH 29 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkish energy minister, Metin Kilci, said Turkey and Azerbaijan might agree a deal in April to build a gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea, media quoted Reuters as reporting. A deal to build the so-called Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) would please European countries which have been pushing for a new energy route from the Caspian to reduce their reliance on Russian gas supplies.
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(News report from Issue No. 081, published on March 30 2012)
MARCH 1 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – BP will boost investment in the Chirag, Azeri and Guneshli oilfields in the Caspian Sea to $3.2b this year, up from $2.6b in 2011. It also said that total investment in the Shah Deniz gas field, which BP operates with Statoil and Azerbaijani state energy company Socar, will nearly double to $1.55b.
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(News report from Issue No. 080, published on March 8 2012)
FEB. 26 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan has agreed to buy $1.6b worth of missiles and drones from Israel, Israeli diplomats told news agencies. Azerbaijan’s defence budget has grown exponentially over the last few years. Azerbaijan’s relations with Iran have worsened recently and its ties with Armenia are historically acrimonious.
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(News report from Issue No. 079, published on March 1 2012)
FEB. 28 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has resumed full gas deliveries to Iran after cutting output by half last month because of the cold weather, Iran media quoted Javad Owji, the Iranian deputy energy minister, as saying. Turkmenistan is a vital gas supplier to northern Iran which is hundreds of miles from Iran’s own gas fields in the south.
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(News report from Issue No. 079, published on March 1 2012)
FEB. 28 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Bank of Georgia, which holds a third of all retail deposits in Georgia, listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The Bank of Georgia is only the second international bank to list on LSE. It hopes to secure a place in the FTSE 250 soon.
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(News report from Issue No. 079, published on March 1 2012)