The government of Georgia expects gas consumption to increase in 2024. According to the natural gas balance forecast, in 2024 Georgia expects to receive 3,231,516,000 cubic meters of gas, of which 3.017 billion cubic meters will be exported from Azerbaijan, while 200 million cubic meters from Russia.
It should be noted that the volume of gas received from the Shah-Deniz field is increasing. Within the "Southern Gas Pipeline", Georgia will receive more than 1.515 billion cubic meters of gas this year, which is almost half of the total consumption. "SOCAR Georgia" will supply 1.501 billion cubic meter of gas. Local extraction will increase to 14.133 million cubic meters.
As for the consumption, 2.2 billion cubic meters of gas will be directed for social consumption, for heating stations - 762.5 million cubic; population - 1.458 billion cubic meters, and the consumption of the commercial sector will be 970.05 million cubic meters.
It should be noted that the forecast and reality may not coincide. Only 200 million cubic meters of gas were expected to be received from Russia in 2023, however, according to the data of 11 months of last year, the rate of purchase of Russian natural gas increased by 65%. In 11 months of 2023, up to 490 million cubic meters of Russian gas worth USD 91 million entered the country's energy system. As a result, Russia's share in natural gas consumption increased to 19%, while in 2022 it was 12%.
