Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI)

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Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector (AGRI) (also known as, Azerbaijan Georgia Romania Hungary Interconnector) is a proposed gas pipeline.

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.

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Project Details

• Operator: The AGRI LNG Project Company
• Owner: The AGRI LNG Project Company
• 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%)
• Capacity: 2 bcm/year; 5 bcm/year; 8 bcm/year
• Length: 572 mi / 920 km
• Diameter:
• Status: Cancelled
• Start Year: 2027
• Cost: EUR 1.2 bln, 2.8 bln, 4.5 bln
• Financing:
• Associated infrastructure: Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline, Shah Deniz Phase 2 expansion, Dostlug Oil and Gas Field, South Caucasus Gas Pipeline

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." The capacity of the interconnector would be between 5 and 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, of which 2 billion cubic meters per year would be consumed in Romania. 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.

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. 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. The governments of Serbia and Bulgaria have also expressed an interest in joining the project.

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. 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"). This marks an important step towards further agreements which may include developments related to this pipeline. 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.

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.

As of September 2024, the discussions are still ongoing. If the project moves forward, a gas pipeline will need to be built to connect the South Caucasus Pipeline with the port of Kulevi in Georgia.

Articles and resources

References

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].