TURKISH-AZERBAIJANI PIPELINE IN ARMENIAN KARS
Naira Hayrumyan, Political Commentator
Politics – 18 March 2015, 14:57
The presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia left for Kars
to attend the ceremony of launching the construction of TANAP to
transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe.
Turkey eventually chose the Azerbaijani pipeline, rejecting the
Russian project of the Turkish Stream. Moreover, according to the
Turkish press, the Turkish company BOTAÃ…~^ has refused a deal with
Gazprom on a 10.25% discount for Russian gas. Turkey asked for a 15%
discount but Russia disagreed.
The problem is not the discount, of course, but the fact that Europe
has refused to buy Russian gas even via the Turkish Stream. According
to the new European energy charter, Russia is not among Europe’s
strategic partners. Now the Russian gas needs to look for new buyers
inside Russia or in poor Armenia.
It has become known that the price of gas in Russia will increase
by 7.5% from July 1. The price of gas in Armenia is linked to the
internal price in Russia, hence, it is not ruled out that Armenia
will have to pay more for gas from July 1.
This is happening alongside with the falling prices of oil and gas
in the world. Annual futures of oil are headed for zero. This means
that soon oil and gas will simply lose their value. They have already
lost their political importance and now the countries which have oil
and gas hurry to sell them.
Technological revolution is a fact in the world, and transition to
new energy is taking place faster than it had been expected.
The oil minister of Iran Bijan Zanganeh has announced today that as
soon as sanctions on his country are lifted, Iran will boost daily
extraction of oil by 1 million barrels. Iran also wants to sell its
oil quickly, even at lower prices.
In this context, the construction of TANAP in Kars is an event
of political campaign which intends to highlight certain political
relations of countries. It is not accidental that this event was held
in Armenian Kars.
From: Baghdasarian