Georgia

Georgia, not an oil and gas producer of significance itself, provides an important part of the land corridor along which major volumes of Caspian oil and gas are transported in transit to European and Mediterranean markets. The 1997 Baku – Supsa pipeline was mainly designated to export ‘early oil’ from the Azeri Chirag Guneshli off shore field of Azerbaijan. This is now complemented with the entry into operation in summer 2007 of the major Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan export route that is capable of transporting beyond 1.2 mb/d of crude oil to world markets.

In addition, Georgia hosts the South Caucasus Pipeline that links gas production from the Azeri off shore gas field, ‘Shah Deniz’, via the same route to Erzerum in Turkey, connecting through the Turkish gas grid to European gas demand centres. Depending on the further development of Shah Deniz and other Caspian gas fields in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, capacity could reach upto 20 bcm per yer.

In respect of the principles of international energy sector governance, Georgia is a member of the Energy Charter Treaty and the World Trade Organisation that set important international standards in rule of law and international commerce in the energy sector.