Page 50 - GEORptSep22

9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9.1.1 Oil & gas sector news
Fuel prices expected to drop in Georgia
TCO beings shipping Kazakh oil via Georgia’s Batumi airport
Georgia reduces gas importa, increases oil imports from Azerbaijan
Georgia's Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili said that the government expects domestic fuel prices to "significantly decrease" in August. According to the minister's announcement on August 11, the government had discussed matters of competition in the fuel market and exploration of cheap sources of fuel supply with the private sector.
During his meeting with representatives of networks of major fuel distributors Georgia's Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili and Davitashvili commented on the current situation in the country's consumer demand for oil products.
Chevron's Tengizchevroil (TCO), operator of the giant Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan, began shipping oil via Georgia's Batumi port on the Black Sea this month, Reuters reported, citing two trade sources and Refinitiv Eikon data.
The development comes after a sharp fall in exports from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline that runs to the Caspian Sea as Russia halted certain mooring point operations over claimed storm damage.
TCO plans to supply 3,000 tonnes of oil in April and 100,560 tonnes of oil in May to Batumi port, according to the Refinitiv Eikon data.
The sources told Reuters that TCO planned to supply 140,000 tonnes of oil per month from the Tengiz field via Batumi port in the near future.
The route is less profitable than the CPC pipeline option.
According to the Georgian National Statistics Office (GEOSTAT), the country imported 1mn tonnes of gas from Azerbaijan worth $162mn in 10M21.
The value of gas imported from Azerbaijan decreased by $41mn or 20.4% annually, and the volume decreased by 191,797.78 tonnes or 15.05% in the same timeframe. Georgia imported 1.3mn tonnes of gas from Azerbaijan worth $204mn in 2020. Overall Georgia imported a total of $235mn worth of gas abroad in 10M21, which is 1.5% less than 2020. Thus, Azerbaijan's share in Georgia's gas imports during the reporting period was 69.06%.
When it comes to oil, on the contrary, Georgia has sharply increased imports from Azerbaijan in the same timeframe. Georgia imported 204179 tonnes of oil worth $113mn. The value of oil increased by $62mn or 2.22 times in annual terms, and the volume increased by 37045 tonnes or 22.6%. In contrast, Georgia imported 167,133.82 tonnes of oil from Azerbaijan worth $50mn in 2020.
50 GEORGIA Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com