Iran cuts gas supply to Turkey due to weather, problems foreseen in Georgia
By M. Alkhazashvili
(Translated by Diana Dundua)
(Translated by Diana Dundua)
Thursday, January 10
Iran has temporarily shut off its natural gas supply to Turkey due to cold weather, RIA Novosti reported on January 7. Turkey has no gas supply storage facilities and Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said negotiations will soon begin with Russia, according to Turkish media.
The news has caused concern in Georgia, which has hoped to secure more of Turkey’s natural gas quota from Azerbaijan’s Shah-Deniz field. It is currently a transit state for Turkey’s gas supply from Shah-Deniz and is in negotiations with Ankara to increase its portion of Turkey’s quota, as Tbilisi wants to limit its reliance on Russian supplies.
However, the newspaper Alia quoted economist Gia Khukhashvili as saying that if Turkey faces a gas deficit now that Iran has suspended supplies, negotiations on getting more of their share from Shah-Deniz are likely to fail.
The news has caused concern in Georgia, which has hoped to secure more of Turkey’s natural gas quota from Azerbaijan’s Shah-Deniz field. It is currently a transit state for Turkey’s gas supply from Shah-Deniz and is in negotiations with Ankara to increase its portion of Turkey’s quota, as Tbilisi wants to limit its reliance on Russian supplies.
However, the newspaper Alia quoted economist Gia Khukhashvili as saying that if Turkey faces a gas deficit now that Iran has suspended supplies, negotiations on getting more of their share from Shah-Deniz are likely to fail.