Turkey permits Turkish Stream engineering survey

MOSCOW

REUTERS photo

Ankara has granted permission for offshore research relating to the planned Turkish Stream gas pipeline, Russia’s Gazprom said on June 22.

“Turkey has granted permission for an engineering survey of the offshore section of Turkish Stream,” Gazprom said in a statement, as reported by Reuters. 

Gazprom plans to build the pipeline to Turkey to provide gas to Europe without going through Ukraine. 

Turkey received the coordinates for the planned Turkish Stream pipeline’s route on June 15, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said earlier, giving assurances the project was not in any territorial conflict with the economic zone of its neighbor, Bulgaria, in the western Black Sea.

Moscow and Ankara may sign the formal agreement on the planned Turkish Stream gas pipeline construction by the end of June, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said, quoted by Russia’s TASS on June 18.

“We have an understanding that the intergovernmental agreement may be signed by the end of June,” Novak said.

The proposed Turkish Stream pipeline project plans to carry Russian natural gas under the Black Sea to Turkey’s northwestern Thrace region before extending into Greece and continuing into Europe.

The offshore part of the Turkish Stream will consist of four pipelines, each with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters (bcm).

The pipelines are planned to pass through 660 kilometers of the old South Stream route under the Black Sea and move 250 kilometers towards a new route to reach Turkey’s Thrace region.

The Turkish Stream is planned to have a total capacity to carry 63 bcm of natural gas per year. It will deliver 47 bcm of gas to Europe, while the remaining amount will be allocated to Turkey for domestic use.