Armenia paid 14.4% more for imported gas in 2012
YEREVAN. Feb 12 (Interfax) - Armenia imported 2.402 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in 2012 at a cost of $532.501 million, the Customs Service reported.
Given that Armenia only imported an insignificant amount of liquefied gas, the average price for the year was $222 per 1,000 cubic meters, up from $194 in 2011, when Armenia imported 2.030 bcm of natural and liquefied gas at a cost of $394.736 million.
Thus, Armenia imported 18.3% more gas last year at a marginal price that was 14.4% higher.
Oil product imports declined 3.3% to 346,403 tonnes at a cost of $362 million, down from $371.5 million in 2011, the Customs Service said.
Despite the declining gasoline imports, Armenia's vehicle imports rose 23% to 32,000 units in 2012, up from 26,000 in 2011.
Declining fuel imports and increasing vehicle imports have been the trend in recent years in Armenia.
Analysts surveyed by Interfax said more and more Armenian motorists were turning to an alternative fuel - natural gas - due to the high cost of petroleum products. Oil traders estimate that more than half of the vehicles in Armenia - estimated at 460,000 as of the end of 2012 - now burn natural gas.
Russia's Gazprom insists on raising the natural gas price for Armenia in 2013, Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisyan told journalists.
Movsisyan said in late January that talks between Armenia and Gazprom on the price of gas were in the final phase. He did not provide details, other than to say the price for Armenia would be the lowest among the CIS states that import gas from Russia.
Russian gas prices for Armenia were last raised on April 1, 2010 - $180 per 1,000 cu m from $154. For household consumers, prices rose to 132 dram per cubic meter from 96, and for industrial concerns that use more than 10,000 cu m a month, the price increased to $243.13 per 1,000 cu m from $215.
In 2012, Russia boosted natural gas deliveries to Armenia 22.3% to 1.967 bcm, up from 1.609 bcm in 2011.
No statistical data is available yet for Armenian imports of gas from Iran. In 2011, Armenia imported 0.460 bcm of Iranian gas, 15% more than in 2010.
ArmRosGazprom, 80% of which belongs to Gazprom and 20% of which is owned by the Armenian government, holds the monopoly on gas supplies to Armenia.
