An oil derrick near Baku (file photo) (RFE/RL)
January 8, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Azerbaijan today announced that it has stopped exporting oil to Russia following a gas-price dispute with Russia's state-run gas monopoly, Gazprom, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reported.
The export chief of Azerbaijan's state oil firm, SOCAR, Mukhtar Babayev, told the AFP news agency that SOCAR halted its deliveries to Russia on January 1.
Babayev said the oil would be used to fuel Azerbaijani power stations that formerly ran on Russian natural gas.
Azerbaijan has refused to pay Gazprom's new proposed price of about $230 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. Gazprom is charging EU countries about $250 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Before January 1, Azerbaijan paid $110 per 1,000 cubic meters.
(with material from AFP, ITAR-TASS)
How Much Do The Neighbors Pay?
How Much Do The Neighbors Pay?
SETTING THE RATES: With Gazprom negotiating new contracts, many states will be paying more for Russian natural gas in 2007.
- Belarus, following tense negotiations with Gazprom, will pay $100 per 1,000 cubic meters in -- up from $47 in 2006. Ukraine, which depends on Russia to supply it with about 77 percent of its gas, will pay $130 per 1,000 cubic meters of a Turkmen-Russian gas mix. Moldova, which depends on Russia for 100 percent of its gas, will pay $170 per 1,000 cubic meters, with the price rising to European-level market price by 2011. Georgia has agreed to pay Gazprom $235 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas.