SOCAR's Russian Supply Back Online

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has resumed gas supply to Russia after the supply was shut down in order to facilitate repairs on the pipeline transporting the gas there.

The supply was shut down for more than a fortnight to carry out the necessary work.

"Exports of Azeri gas to Russia were ceased from March 7 due to repair works on the main pipeline," a spokesperson for SOCAR said earlier this month.

"The works are being carried out on the section of pipeline near the border with Russia, and has not created problems in the gas supply to the northern regions of Azerbaijan."

Azerbaijan is a major supplier of gas to Russia in particular to gas giant Gazprom. In December of last year, SOCAR and Gazprom agreed to increase the supply of Azeri gas, raising the levels supplied to 3 billion cubic metres, a massive jump on 2011's figures of approximately 1.4 billion cubic metres.

While no official statement has been released yet, a spokesperson for SOCAR, Nizamaddin Quliyev, confirmed to Bloomberg today that supply had resumed as normal to Russia, beginning again on the 24th of March.