Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI)

From Global Energy Monitor
This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
Sub-articles:

Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI) (also known as, Azerbaijan Georgia Romania Hungary Interconnector) is a proposed natural gas pipeline.[1][2]

Location

The pipeline is proposed to run from the Sangachal LNG Terminal in Azerbaijan to the proposed Kulevi LNG Terminal in Poti, Georgia. From there, the gas would be transported across the Black Sea by LNG tankers to the Constanta LNG Terminal in Romania.[3]

Loading map...

Project Details

  • Operator: The AGRI LNG Project Company[4]
  • Owner: The AGRI LNG Project Company[4]
  • Parent company: Romgaz (Romanian National Natural Gas Company) (25%); SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic) (25%); GOGC (Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation) (25%); MVM (Hungarian Electricity Company Plc) (25%)[3]
  • Capacity: 2 bcm/year; 5 bcm/year; 8 bcm/year[3]
  • Length: 572 mi / 920 km
  • Diameter:
  • Status: Cancelled
  • Start Year: 2027
  • Cost: EUR 1.2 bln, 2.8 bln, 4.5 bln[3]
  • Financing:
  • Associated infrastructure: Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, Shah Deniz Phase 2 expansion, Dostlug Oil and Gas Field

Background

The Azerbaijan–Georgia–Romania Interconnector (AGRI) is a proposed project to transport Azerbaijani natural gas to Romania and Central Europe. The project was originally planned to start operating in 2027. Natural gas would be transported by the pipeline from Sangachal LNG Terminal in Azerbaijan to the Kulevi LNG Terminal at the Black Sea coast of Georgia. In Kulevi, Georgia, an LNG export terminal will be built. From there, the liquefied natural gas would then be transported by LNG tankers to the Constanta LNG Terminal in Romania."[1] The capacity of the interconnector would be between 5 and 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year,[5] of which 2 billion cubic meters per year would be consumed in Romania.[6][7] Romania completed a feasibility study of the project in 2017, and the total cost of the project has been estimated at 1.2 billion euros to 4.5 billion euros.[8]

On 13 April 2010, the Minister of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan Natig Aliyev, Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business Environment of Romania Adriean Videanu and Georgian Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri signed a memorandum on implementation of the project and establishment of the project company, SC AGRI LNG Project Company SRL, headquartered in Bucharest.[6][7][9] The project is being developed by the AGRI LNG Co formed by Romgaz, State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, and MVM.[10] The governments of Serbia and Bulgaria have also expressed an interest in joining the project.[5]

In March 2019 Georgian Oil and Gas Company stated that the pipeline would be developed after the 2024-2026 development of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz Phase 2 gas field.[11] Since there have not been any development updates since March 2019, we consider this project shelved.

In January 2021, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have signed a landmark agreement to jointly develop a long-disputed Caspian gas field (named "Kepez" or "Sardar", renamed in 2021 to "Dostlug/Dostluk").[12] This marks an important step towards further agreements which may include developments related to this pipeline.[13] According to some analysts, this agreement removes the last obstacle to the construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, which may provide gas to the AGRI gas pipeline.[14][15]

In October 2022, Romanian gas producer Romgaz and Azerbaijan's state-owned Socar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop an LNG project in the Black Sea. The project would consist of a liquefaction plant, an LNG regasification plant, as well as all other installations and facilities needed in order to transport natural gas from the Caspian region into Romania, including an onshore pipeline infrastructure in the Caucasus. The concept strongly resembles the AGRI project. The two firms will conduct a study to identify the technical, financial, and commercial feasibility of such a project. The results of the study are expected to become available by the end of 2023.[16]

As of August 2023, there have not been any updates about development of the AGRI project. The project is considered to be cancelled.

Articles and resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI), Wikipedia, Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  2. "Аzerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector". gogc.ge. Retrieved 2022-08-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Current Situation over the AGRI Project (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector)". Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "AGRI LNG Project Company, Romania | Profile". www.gulfoilandgas.com. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Making sense of AGRI’s future, Energy Policy Group, Retrieved Aug 14, 2017.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "Supplying Azerbaijani gas to Romania will play important role in European energy security". Trend News Agency. 2010-04-13. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Romania, Azerbaijan, Georgia sign LNG memo". News.Az. 2010-04-13. Archived from the original on 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2010-04-13. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (help)
  8. Azerbaijan, Romania continue to work on implementation of LNG project, Azernews, Feb. 20, 2018
  9. "Romania, Georgia, Azerbaijan sign agreement to build gas terminals". Xinhua. 2010-04-13. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
  10. "Minister: Five companies claim to develop feasibility study of AGRI gas project". Trend News Agency. 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
  11. Timeframe for implementation of AGRI project revealed, Azer News, Retrieved Mar 8, 2019.
  12. Mammadov, Rauf (Jan 27, 2021). "Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan Seek to Expand Cooperation on Caspian Energy Production". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved Aug 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. "Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan agreement advances Caspian gas cooperation". Eurasianet. Jan 22, 2021. Retrieved Aug 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. Cutler, Robert M. (May 20, 2021). "Azerbaijan And Turkmenistan Eye Gas Exports To Europe". NATO Association of Canada. Retrieved Aug 23, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. Cutler, Robert M. (March 12, 2021). "Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan Agree on the Caspian". The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst. Retrieved Aug 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. "Romania and Azerbaijan Mull New LNG Project on the Black Sea". The Jamestown Foundation. November 15, 2022. Retrieved August 31,0, 2023. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Wikipedia also has an article on Azerbaijan–Georgia–Romania Interconnector (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI)). This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License].