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.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 079, published on March 1 2012)
FEB. 12 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR said it wanted European partners for its planned Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) across Turkey. TANAP is considered by some as a rival to the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline proposal. SOCAR will offer part of its 80% stake in TANAP to Western energy companies.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 77, published on Feb. 16 2012)
FEB. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tengizchevroil, the Chevron-lead Kazakhstan oil producer, plans to invest $5b to $6b over the next five years to maintain production levels, Bloomberg quoted general-director Tim Miller as saying. Tengiz, near Atyrau on the Caspian Sea coast, is Kazakhstan largest oil producing field.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 77, published on Feb. 16 2012)
FEB. 16 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Attacks against Israeli targets in Georgia, India and Thailand and an acrimonious row between Baku and Tehran have thrown a spotlight over the relationship between the South Caucasus and Iran.
The same day that Georgian security forces disarmed a car bomb in Tbilisi another exploded in Delhi, injuring an Israeli woman (Feb. 13). Israel has blamed Iran for both attacks and another in Bangkok the following day.
Three weeks earlier the authorities in Baku arrested two Iranians for conspiring to assassinate Israeli diplomats, although Iran denied the charges.
The South Caucasus has a complex, fluid relationship with Iran.
Over the past year, much to the irritation of the US, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia have strengthened ties with Iran. Gas deals have been made, railway and air links solidified, visa regulations waived and military delegations hosted. Private business and trade links have also surged.
But behind these strengthening connections relations often remain strained.
Azerbaijan has built up good links with Israel and Georgia’s main backer is the US. Both are Iran’s sworn enemy. Armenia has more cordial ties with Iran but it also needs to be flexible.
The South Caucasus countries have to deal with their powerful neighbour but they are also wary.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 77, published on Feb. 16 2012)
FEB. 6 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A fire broke out at one of Kazakhstan’s three oil refineries. Nobody was hurt in the fire at the refinery in Shymkent, near the Uzbek border, and an official said production was not affected. A broken oil pipe, fractured by the cold weather, was blamed for the fire.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 76, published on Feb. 9 2012)
JAN. 19 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR agreed to build an oil refinery in Kyrgyzstan. Media reported that the refinery will process 2m tonnes of crude oil a year and be operational by the end of 2013. The construction will cost $150m. China is already building an oil refinery in Kyrgyzstan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 74, published on Jan. 26 2012)
JAN. 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s Gazprom said it would buy 3b cubic metres (bcm) of gas from Azerbaijan this year, up from 500mcm in 2009 and an estimated 2bcm in 2011. Russia and Azerbaijan are competing for potential gas customers. Azerbaijan is expected to announce soon which project transporting gas to Europe from the Caspian Sea it will support.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 74, published on Jan. 26 2012)
JAN. 18 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Paris-based intergovernmental International Energy Agency warned that unrest last month in west Kazakhstan could slow investment in the Kazakh oil and gas sector, Bloomberg reported. This is the first warning from a major institution that violence which killed at least 17 people could impact the investment climate.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 73, published on Jan. 19 2012)
JAN. 7 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov fired Aman Khanaliyev, the head of the state energy company Turkmengaz. Mr Khanaliyev had been in the post for a year. This is the third time Mr Berdymukhamedov has sacked the head of Turkmengaz since he became president in 2007.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 72, published on Jan. 13 2012)
JAN. 4 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Local media quoted the head of the Tajik foreign ministry’s information department, Daviat Nazri, saying Uzbekistan had cut off gas to Tajikistan. The Uzbek authorities have not commented. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been locked in a protracted row about energy and food supplies.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 71, published on Jan. 5 2012)