Georgia repairs pipeline, restores Russian gas supply to Armenia
Thu, 21 December 2006
THE Georgian Oil & Gas Corporation reported on 20 December that it had restored Russian natural gas supplies to Armenia amid fears the latter could face gas shortages this winters. GOGC said it had repaired the section of the pipeline transporting Russian gas to Georgia and Armenia which had been damaged by an avalanche in the early hours of 18 December.
"The damaged section has been repaired and is undergoing tests," company director Alexander Khetaguri said.
Earlier in the week, Gazprom said that Armenia's underground gas storage facilities may be empty this winter if Georgia fails to repair the pipeline on time. "If the repair work continues for a long time, Armenia may have no more gas in its underground storage facilities this winter," Sergei Kupriyanov, a spokesman for the state-run gas monopoly, said. During the pipeline shut-down, an alternative pipeline with a capacity of 1.2m cum/d was used to; however, Armenia's requirement during winter time is around 10m cum/d.