Russian Energy Ministry gives orders to design sea portion of Turkish stream on Russian territory - First Deputy Energy Minister Teksler

MOSCOW, August 11. / TASS / Russian Energy Ministry gives orders to design sea portion of Turkish stream on Russian territory, and First Deputy Energy Minister Alexei Teksler signed a decree on the preparatory documents, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The decree says that the Turkish Stream will consist of four pipelines. The type of the project in Anapa is four underground pipelines with 812.8 mm in diameter, the length of the gas pipeline on Russian territory will amount to 2.6 km. On August 11, Russia's state-owned gas major Gazprom said that the cost of the construction of four pipelines for the Turkish stream will amount to 11.4 billion euros, the cost of the first line construction is estimated at 4.3 billion euros, a Gazprom representative told TASS. According to him, the design configuration of the project involves the construction of four threads and its phased commissioning. "The cost of the four threads is estimated at 11.4 billion euros. The cost of the first line is estimated at 4.3 billion euros," he said. On August 7, Russia sent two offers to Turkey, related to the intergovernmental agreements on the Turkey Stream. "We’ve sent two offers to Turkey, one - on one line and another - on four lines. Currently, the Turkish side is considering those offers," the Energy Ministry representative said. Two weeks ago, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Russia is ready to sign an intergovernmental agreement on 1 line of the Turkish Stream within 1-2 weeks. "Everything will depend on the Turkish Stream as we’ve submitted our agreement project to the Turkish side. They’re now studying it. We expect to receive their response to our suggestion," he said. Novak added that Russia expects to sign an intergovernmental agreement within the shortest possible time as it’s ready to do it "within a week or two." Earlier a source in Russia’s Energy Ministry told TASS that at the level of the heads of states /Russia and Turkey - TASS/ a decision on a phased implementation of the project has been made. "Russia is ready for a phased implementation of the project," the source said. Thus, the sides are currently negotiating documents regarding 1 line of the Turkish Stream, which will supply Russian gas exclusively for the needs of the Republic. An intergovernmental agreement on 2-4 lines of the pipeline, which are expected to transfer gas to the EU countries, will be included in a separate document, the source said. On August 3, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources said Russia had sent a request for four lines of the pipeline. On December 1, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his visit to Ankara that Russia abandoned the South Stream project, and was embarking on the Turkish Stream instead. The project to build the South Stream gas pipeline was closed due to the European Union’s unconstructive approach to cooperation, including Bulgaria’s decision to stop the construction of the pipeline’s stretch on its territory. Putin said Russia would build a gas pipeline to Turkey where a gas hub on the border with Europe will be created. Gazprom and Turkey’s Botas signed a memorandum of understanding on building the pipeline’s offshore section across the Black Sea. Gazprom Russkaya was set up to be in charge of the pipeline construction. On July 9, South Stream Transport B.V., a subsidiary of Gazprom, informed Saipem S.p.A. on cancelling the contract for the construction of the first line of the offshore part of the gas pipeline that had been signed as part of the South Stream project implementation in 2014. "This decision was made due to failure to reach an agreement on numerous routine and commercial aspects of the Turkish Stream implementation,"- the company said in the statement. Other work on the project is under ways and in the near future South Stream Transport B.V. is to start talks with potential contractors to build the Turkish Stream’s first line. The Turkish Stream will serve as an alternative to the South Stream gas pipeline project abandoned by Russia in December 2014. The larger part of the Turkish Stream pipeline will run across the Black Sea and coincide with the South Stream route approved earlier. Unlike the South Stream, which implied a large-scale infrastructure construction in Europe, the Turkish Stream project is limited to the construction of a pipeline under the Black Sea and a gas hub on the border between Turkey and Greece. The remaining part of infrastructure will have to be built by Gazprom’s European customers themselves. Earlier, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that the construction of the first stretch of the Turkish Stream would start in late June. The pipeline is scheduled to begin operation in December 2016, he said. The larger part of the Turkish Stream pipeline will run across the Black Sea and coincide with the South Stream route approved earlier. The pipeline’s underwater section is 900 km long; land section is 180 km long. The pipeline will have a capacity of 63 bln cubic meters, of which about 16 bln cubic meters will be given to Turkey. Unlike the South Stream, which implied a large-scale infrastructure construction in Europe, the Turkish Stream project is limited to the construction of a pipeline under the Black Sea and a gas hub on the border between Turkey and Greece. The remaining part of infrastructure will have to be built by Gazprom’s European customers themselves The Turkish Stream is designed to serve as an alternative to the South Stream gas pipeline project abandoned by Russia in December 2014. The larger part of the Turkish Stream pipeline will run across the Black Sea and coincide with the South Stream route approved earlier. Gazprom and Turkey’s Botas signed a memorandum of understanding on December 1, 2014 on building the pipeline’s offshore section across the Black Sea. The Turkish Stream is expected to have an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters, of which 47 billion cubic meters will be delivered to a new gas hub on the Turkish-Greek border. Gazprom Russkaya Company will be in charge of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline construction. Read more