RUSSIA SCORES DOUBLE MATCH POINT WITH AZERBAIJANI GAS DEAL

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Russian President Dmitri Medvedev only visited Baku for a day, but walked away with a gas deal likely to bring Moscow benefits for years to come.

Under a June 29 agreement with Azerbaijan, Russia’s gas monopolist Gazprom has become the first -- and only -- company listed as a potential purchaser of natural gas from Stage 2 of Azerbaijan’s sprawling Shah Deniz field. In a boon for Baku, the agreement stipulates that any other potential purchaser must outbid Gazprom for Stage-2 gas, according to Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller.

The document does not specify volumes of gas to be purchased or prices to be paid. Gazprom had earlier offered to purchase all gas produced during Stage 2 of Shah Deniz -- estimated at some 14 billion cubic meters of gas per year by 2016.