Cyprus needs to build East Med security alliance to support energy future - FINANCIAL MIRROR

23 December, 2018 

Cyril Widdershoven

The growing regional energy cooperation between Israel, Cyprus and Greece has been given another boost this week.

During the 5th trilateral summit, Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras stated in the Israeli city of Beersheva that they will sign an agreement early 2019 to start the construction of an offshore East Mediterranean gas pipeline to Europe.

As indicated before, the $7 bln pipeline will compete with Russian pipeline gas exports to European markets in a move to quell the growing Russian stranglehold.

The commercial and financial viability of the project will be studied further during the upcoming feasibility study, partly financed by the EU, which has pledged $100 million already.

Turkey starts building land part of Turkish Stream pipeline - TASS

ANKARA, December 13, 2018 /TASS/

Turkey is launching the construction of the onshore part of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline on the territory of the republic.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this presenting the action plan for the second 100 days of the new cabinet after the country’s transition to the presidential form of government.

"We are launching the construction of the onshore part of the Turkish Stream on our territory," he said as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.

Erdogan also announced plans to complete the implementation of this project "by the end of 2019."

TurkStream: Who profits, who loses out? - DW

19.Nov.2018

Nik Martin

As Turkey and Russia inaugurate the sea section of the TurkStream gas pipeline, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can boast of Ankara's new geopolitical influence. DW asks why the pipeline is causing such a fuss.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday marked the completion of the offshore phase of TurkStream, a natural gas pipeline connecting the two countries.

Erdogan told reporters TurkStream would be ready to operate in 2019 after tests are carried out, while Putin said the pipeline would make Turkey a "major European hub." The tie-up with Moscow would "without a doubt influence the geopolitical standing of the Turkish Republic."

The new energy cooperation comes despite Moscow severing ties with Ankara three years ago after a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border.

Management Committee reviews progress of TurkStream project - GAZPROM

September 5, 2018, 16:40

The Gazprom Management Committee reviewed the current status of the TurkStream project.

It was noted that the project was going according to schedule. Specifically, the deep-water pipelaying for the offshore part of the gas pipeline’s first string had been completed in the Black Sea along with the construction of the second string in Russia’s exclusive economic zone. On June 26, 2018, the Pioneering Spirit vessel had started to lay the second string in the Turkish exclusive economic zone. As of today, over 1,520 kilometers of the two strings are ready, which translates into about 81 per cent of the overall length of TurkStream’s offshore section.

Particular attention at the meeting was paid to the efforts being taken on the coasts of Russia and Turkey. It was highlighted that the landfall near the Russian town of Anapa had been completed and the continuing start-up and commissioning operations would be finished in 2018 together with landscaping. In addition, a receiving terminal is being constructed in the coastal area near the Turkish settlement of Kiyikoy.

Pioneering Spirit Resumes Work on TurkStream Pipeline - MARITIME EXECUTIVE

2018-JUNE-28, 17:54:38

Less than a month after completing a successful platform installation off Norway, the Pioneering Spirit has resumed pipelay work on the TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea. She has had a busy year: she finished building the pipeline's first string on April 30, exited the Black Sea on May 2, installed a 22,000 tonne topsides unit at the Johan Sverdrup field off Norway in early June, and entered the Black Sea once more on June 20.

Upon her return at the TurkStream site, the Pioneering Spirit conducted preparatory work, including stinger deployment and pipelay equipment checks. Once she was ready, the unfinished head of the second pipeline string was recovered from the bottom of the Black Sea, at a depth of 7,100 feet. The initial 120 nm section of the second string was built in 2017, and was only completed up to the Russian-Turkish EEZ border.

TurkStream Line 1 Completed - GAZPROM

April 30, 2018, 12:00

Today at the Black Sea coast of Turkey, the deep-water pipelay for Line 1 of the TurkStream offshore gas pipeline has been completed.

The average rate of the deep-water pipelay carried out by the pipelaying vessel Pioneering Spirit was 4.3 km/day. The maximum pipelaying rate – 5.6 km/day – was reached twice in February 2018.

In accordance with the schedule, the project is being simultaneously implemented on shore in Russia and Turkey and in the Black Sea. The receiving terminal is being constructed near the settlement of Kiyiköy, Turkey. Upon completion of the landfall sections the works on the first line will be completed.

Following the works schedule, Pioneering Spirit will continue the deep-water pipelay of Line 2 in the third quarter of 2018.

'Implementation of the TurkStream Project carries forward successfully. We have reached an important milestone – the completion of Line 1. Progress is moving at a high rate. Since 7 May 2017, when we started the pipelaying campaign, the total of 1,161 km of pipes has been laid, which is 62% of the overall gas pipeline length. Needless to say, TurkStream will play a significant role in strengthening energy security of Turkey and Europe', said Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom PJSC.

Alexey Miller: Blue Stream serves as strong catalyst for Turkish gas market - GAZPROM

February 28, 2018, 15:00

This February marks the 15th anniversary of the start of commercial supplies via the Blue Stream gas pipeline, which conveys gas directly from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea.

At the moment, Blue Stream accounts for over 50 per cent of Russian gas exported to Turkey. In 2017, the gas pipeline transmitted a record 15.8 billion cubic meters of gas to the Turkish market. Over the course of 15 years, upward of 158 billion cubic meters of gas was delivered via Blue Stream.

“Gas supplies via Blue Stream have served as a strong catalyst for the Turkish gas market. Prior to the pipeline’s launch, as few as 10 of Turkey’s 81 provinces had access to natural gas. By now, the number of provinces provided with gas has skyrocketed to 78.

Drawing on the successful experience of building and operating Blue Stream, Gazprom is constructing a new gas main stretching across the Black Sea – TurkStream. As the demand for Russian gas in Turkey keeps rising, TurkStream will make gas supplies to our Turkish and European partners even more reliable,” said Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee.

Gazprom gets go-ahead for second TurkStream offshore gas pipeline - OFFSHORE

JAN/23/2018

MOSCOW – The Turkish authorities have awarded Gazprom a construction permit for the second string of the TurkStream gas pipeline’s offshore section through the Black Sea, terminating at the Turkish coast.

TurkStream operations are in progress at three sections: onshore in Russia and Turkey and offshore in the Black Sea.

Allseas has completed laying more than 760 km (472 mi) of the two offshore strings since the program started last May. Construction of the landfall in Russia is nearly completed, while in Turkey, work has started at the construction site of the receiving terminal.

Gazprom now has all required permits from the Turkish government for the offshore area, and this means both strings of the gas system should be in operation on time, before the end of 2019, said the company’s chairman Alexey Miller.

Why Turkey supports TurkStream, TANAP? - ANADOLU AGENCY

11.01.2018 

Murat Temizer

With TANAP and TurkStream, Turkey will gain spare capacity for extra gas imports from new sources and for future re-exports

ANKARA - Turkey's new supply sources with new TANAP and TurkStream natural gas pipelines will help supply security and help meet demand surges in line with the Turkish government's energy policy to diversify sources, according to the latest report of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES) on Thursday.

The Gas Supply Changes in Turkey report written by Gulmira Rzayeva, a fellow in the OIES discerned that the Turkish government is in the process of making significant structural changes to the country’s energy sector and the country expects two natural gas pipeline projects to be operational in the near future.

Gazprom’s exports to Turkey up by 18.8% in 2017 - TASS

December 17, 23:49 UTC+3

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Russia’s gas giant Gazprom said on Sunday is had exported a record-breaking volume of gas to Turkey in a period from January 1 to December 15, 2017, having increased supplies by 18.8% on the same period last year, to 27.6 billion cubic meters.

"In the eleven and a half months of 2017, Gazprom exported 27.6 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey, its second largest foreign market. The 2014 gas exports record of 27.3 billion cubic meter has been broken," the company said in a press release.

Apart from that, gas exports to other countries that are to be covered by the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which is now under construction, also increased, including by 10.1% to Greece, by 5.7% - to Bulgaria, by 22% - to Hungary, and by 23.5% - to Serbia.

Gazprom's natural gas exports to Europe, Turkey move past 2016 levels to fresh record - PLATTS

London (Platts)--8 Dec 2017 801 am EST/1301 GMTStuart Elliott, Edited by Alisdair Bowles

Russia's Gazprom is set to exceed on Friday the level of exports to Europe and Turkey that was recorded in 2016 as demand for Russian natural ss and cold weather across the continent

• Sales to Europe, Turkey to reach 179.8 Bcm Friday
• CEO points to 'unconditional reliability' of supplies
• Nord Stream set for 87% utilization rate in 2017

Taking into account the nominated volume for Friday, Gazprom will have exported 179.8 Bcm to what it calls the Far Abroad -- Europe and Turkey, but not the countries of the former Soviet Union -- higher than last year's then record high of 179.3 Bcm.

Russian Gas Deliveries to Turkey Soar in September - MOSCOW TIMES / BNE INTELLINEWS

Sep 29, 2017 — 15:24
Ben Aris

Putin’s ultimate goal seems to be to win over Turkey from the West's sphere of influence

Russo-Turkish relations are back in rude health – almost. And nowhere is that clearer than in Russian gas deliveries to Turkey. They have soared in the past month.

Gazprom will set a record for natural gas deliveries to Turkey this year with deliveries having already surged 48 percent in September from a year earlier, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told reporters on Sept. 28.

"We are happy that deliveries of gas to Turkey are growing this year. Comparing the period from Jan. 1 to date with the like period of 2016, supplies to the Turkish market rose 24.3 percent," Miller was cited by the state-run news agency TASS as saying. "It means Gazprom will probably set an all-time high record of gas supplies to the market of Turkey as of 2017 year-end."

Petrofac to build $404 million worth gas receiving terminal in TurkStream project - ANADOLU AGENCY

Ankara, September 5, 2017

Jersey-based oil field services company, Petrofac has secured a €340 million contract along with Gazprom subsidiary South Stream Transport BV to build a gas receiving terminal in Turkey, the company announced Tuesday.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract includes the development of onshore pipelines and a gas receiving terminal near Kıyıköy on Turkey's northeastern Black Sea coast, a statement said.

The company has been undertaking early works since April, which includes detailed design and procurement for the offshore section of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline, it added.

Construction of Russia’s gas pipeline to Turkey going full steam ahead - RUSSIA TODAY

31 Aug, 2017 13:18

Gazprom said on Thursday 220 kilometers of the gas pipeline to Turkey has been laid under the Black Sea.

“The sea part of the project has seen 220 kilometers of two lines of pipes being laid,” said Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller.

The Turkish Stream or TurkStream pipeline has been under construction since May this year. The pipeline will go from Russia’s Black Sea coast beneath the sea to Turkey, and extend to the border with Greece.

It will see two lines; the first will be for the Turkish market, the second for gas to the countries of South and South-Eastern Europe. Each line has a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters per year.

Turkey’s massive gas pipeline a double-edged sword for Europe - THE IRISH TIMES

22.7.2017
Stephen Starr

The €11bn TurkStream gas project will put Turkey and Russia in a position of power

For those who saw it coming, the sight of a massive, 382-metre-long ship passing through Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait in May said a lot about Turkey’s plans to influence Europe’s access to new natural gas supplies.

The world’s largest vessel by displacement, Pioneering Spirit comes complete with offices, accommodation for 571 people and a €2.6 billion price tag. Earlier this summer it journeyed from the North Sea – where it lifted and removed an entire 24,500-tonne decommissioned oil platform, a record engineering feat – south and then east around the European continent, and through Istanbul.

Pipe-laying of TurkStream gas pipeline in deep water commenced - GAZPROM

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June 23, 2017, 14:15

Gazprom today started laying the TurkStream (aka Turkish Stream) gas pipeline in the deep-water area off the coast of Anapa. The operations were launched with the command given by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the Pioneering Spirit pipe-laying vessel.

Vladimir Putin and Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, explored the machinery and equipment of the vessel, including its gas pipeline construction facility used for welding and applying protective coatings to pipes.

Russian gas exports to Turkey up by 26% in January-April 2017 - TASS

May 21, 22:07UTC+3© EPA/KERIM OKTEN

ISTANBUL, May 21. /TASS/. Russian gas exports to Turkey grew by 26% in January-April 2017, to reach 10.5 billion cubic meters, according to documents prepared by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Turkey.

"In 2016, Russia’s natural gas exports to Turkey amounted to 24.7 billion cubic meters. In January-April 2017, gas exports grew by 26%, to reach 10.5 billion cubic meters," the document says.

Apart from that, basis has been laid for closer cooperation in the gas sector thanks to the implementation of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project with a capacity of 31.4 cubic meters.

Alexey Miller informs Vladimir Putin of readiness to start laying offshore section of TurkStream gas pipeline - GAZPROM

Vladimir Putin and Alexey Miller. Photo by www.kremlin.ru

May 4, 2017, 21:00

A working meeting took place today between Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee.

The meeting explored, among other things, Gazprom’s efforts to expand its resource base, including within the Tambey group of fields in the Yamal Peninsula.

Alexey Miller informed Vladimir Putin of the continuing growth in Russian gas supplies to Europe and the readiness to start laying the offshore section of the TurkStream gas pipeline within a few days.

Turkey returns to Russian gas- VESTNIK KAVKAZA

Mar 29 - 4:20 pm

Turkey continues to increase the volume of Russian gas purchases. The trend, which has been observed since the last autumn, continues to gain momentum. According to the latest data, in January-February 2017, Turkey increased Russian's gas imports by 16.6% compared to the same period in 2016.

The expansion of cooperation in the energy sphere was discussed by the Presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during the Turkish leader's visit to Moscow in early March. Erdogan said then that the Russian-Turkish energy cooperation is of great importance both in terms of natural gas and in terms of other elements, and in general this process is increasingly developing.

Turkey, Russia to jointly establish investment fund - DAILY SABAH / ANADOLU AGENCY

MOSCOW, 10.3.2017

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said a significant number of agreements have been prepared for the Turkey-Russia High-Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) meeting in Moscow today.

He revealed that the agreements, set to be signed at the meeting, will not just address the economy, but will also deal with technical and cultural fields.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) ahead of the HLCC meeting that will bring together President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Minister Novak highlighted that commercial and economic cooperation between Turkey and Russia has gradually recovered after a series of unfortunate events.