The Georgian Oil & Gas Corporation (GOGC) said Thursday it has repaired a section of the pipeline that pumps Russian gas to Georgia and Armenia, which was damaged by an avalanche in the early hours of December 18, amid fears the latter could face gas shortages this winter.
Armen Movsisyan said the pipeline was fully repaired Thursday, and that at about 2 a.m. local time [10 p.m. GMT Wednesday], natural gas was already being pumped to Armenia at the normal volume of 350,000 cubic meters an hour.
Russia's energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday that Armenia's underground gas storage facilities may be empty this winter if Georgia fails to restore its pipeline pumping Russian gas on time.
"If repair work continues for a long time, Armenia may have no more gas in its underground storage facilities this winter," the official spokesman for the state-run natural gas monopoly, Sergei Kupriyanov, said.
Kupriyanov said the Georgian Gas Transportation Company, a GOGC's asset, promised to repair the pipeline Monday but later said it will take several days.
A reserve branch pumping 1.2 million cubic meters of gas per day is currently being used to ensure supplies to Armenia, which in the past received around 10 million cubic meters per day during the winter.
