Gazprom officials courting Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 29 (UPI) -- Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller is expected in the Azeri capital this week to discuss securing gas supplies from southern Russian regions.

Russia reached preliminary agreements in March to purchase gas volumes from Azerbaijan beginning in 2010. Miller said he is considering "relatively small amounts" of gas purchases initially but hopes to secure a stronger relationship with the Caspian supplier in the future, the Azeri Press Agency reports.

Miller said the early volumes would come from the massive Shah Deniz gas field.

Shah Deniz in the Caspian Sea is one of the largest finds in recent decades, with roughly 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.

Elshad Nasirov, a marketing director at the State Oil Co. of the Azerbaijan Republic, said development of the Shah Deniz field and the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli complex would bring massive increases to overall resource output.

Analysts see the Miller visit as a possible blow to plans for the Nabucco natural gas pipeline to Europe, though Nasirov had suggested Azerbaijan was open to several investment opportunities.

Nasirov noted Turkey had offered favorable conditions on gas prices from the first phase of Shah Deniz with Ankara agreeing not to interfere with transit decisions.

Meanwhile, Iran had recently offered to purchase the entire gas volume from the field.