Russia, Azerbaijan seek broader gas ties

Talks between Russia and Azerbaijan on Friday paved the way for a gas supply agreement that may undermine Western Europe's efforts to reduce their energy dependence on Russia, Associated Press reported.

«We have a very high chance of entering a full-blown agreement» on gas supplies, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told reporters after a meeting with his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.

Last month, the head of Azerbaijan's national energy company met with officials of Russia's state gas monopoly Gazprom and gave a preliminary pledge to supply gas to Russia from 2010.

But details of a potential supply deal remain scant, as both sides have yet to agree on the terms. There has been no indication of the volumes being considered, prompting some analysts to suggest that a deal between the two countries may be little more than a gesture.

However, any broadening of the deal could yet undermine Western Europe's efforts to reduce its dependency on Russian gas supplies by throwing into doubt the viability of the U.S.- and the EU-backed Nabucco project _ a pipeline that would run from the Caspian Sea region to Europe, bypassing Russia.

But Azerbaijan has so far given only lukewarm backing to Nabucco, which would source gas from the second phase of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field initially _ scheduled to produce gas in 2014-15 _ with hopes that Turkmenistan will join later.

Aliyev noted that a deal with Russia would entail little additional investment, because there are no transit countries to traverse, and the pipelines are already in place.