Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.23 /Trend, A.Yusifzade /
SOCAR will commission a new compressor station in Astara. It is a part of the gas transportation infrastructure connecting gas systems of Azerbaijan and Iran, a source on the oil and gas market said.
He said that start-up operations were conducted at the station.
"The operations are under completion. It will be commissioned within 3-4 days," the source said.
He said that a new station will consist of ten compressors. Only six compressors will be commissioned by late 2010. The remaining four compressors will be installed in 2011.
SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev said earlier that the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is implementing an investment program to expand the capacity of a gas compressor station in Astara. The program aims to fully meet the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic's (NAR) gas needs. Expanding the station in Astara will allow Azerbaijan to fully cover the NAR's gas needs without delivering any additional gas supplies through Iran.
Iran is interested in purchasing roughly 5 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas per year.
Azerbaijan and Iran are connected with the Gazi-Magomed-Astara-Bind-Biand gas pipeline, 1,474.5-kilometers long. Its capacity was 10 billion cubic meters a year, but now it is lower. This route is a branch of the Gazakh-Astara-Iran pipeline commissioned in 1971. Three compressor stations - Gazi-Magomed, Aghdash and Gazakh were built.
