Gazprom says new pipeline will secure gas for Turkey

MOSCOW - Anadolu Agency

REUTERS Photo

The new planned Russian natural gas pipeline to Turkey will provide a “secure supply” for the country, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said on Jan. 9.

In early December, Russia scrapped the South Stream project, which was planned to carry gas under the western Black Sea to Bulgaria and into European markets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin instead offered a new gas pipeline route via the Black Sea to reach Turkey’s northwestern Thrace region, with a gas hub also to be constructed at the Turkish-Greek border to transfer gas further into Europe.   

“Putin’s last visit to Turkey added new perspectives to Turkish-Russian energy cooperation,” Gazprom’s Kupriyanov told Anadolu Agency.

Underlining that the new proposed pipeline would create a secure supply of natural gas to Turkey, he said the entry point of the pipeline to the Black Sea will be from the “Russkaya” compressor in southern Russia.

Kupriyanov added that the new pipeline’s name could be “Turkish Stream.”

Turkey consumes some 45 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually and nearly 60 percent of this gas is supplied by Russia.

“Gazprom has always been a guarantee of secure gas supplies to Turkey and our collaboration with Turkey in this area will deepen further,” Kupriyanov added.