Russia begins TurkStream gas flows to Greece - REUTERS

JANUARY 5, 2020 / 1:48 PM

SOFIA (Reuters) - Russia has started European gas deliveries through the new TurkStream pipeline to Turkey, Bulgaria’s Bulgartransgaz said on Sunday, as Moscow looks to reduce shipments via Ukraine.

Russia is building TurkStream and doubling the capacity of NordStream across the Baltic Sea to Germany as part of plans to bypass Ukraine in its gas deliveries to Europe.

“Russian gas deliveries not only for us but also for Greece and North Macedonia are being carried through the new entry point (at our Turkish border),” Bulgartransgaz CEO Vladimir Malinov told Bulgarian national radio BNR.

Russian gas producer Gazprom started shipping about 3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Bulgaria via TurkStream on January 1, replacing a route that formerly passed through Ukraine and Romania.

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.

BOTAŞ agrees on financing Turkish Stream with Russia’s Gazprom - DAILY SABAH

Pioneering Spirit passes through Bosporus-May 31,2017(AA Photo)

11 July 2017

The state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Company (BOTAŞ) reached an agreement on financing the Turkish Stream pipeline with the Russian state-owned gas and oil giant Gazprom, the Turkish company's General Manager Burhan Özcan said Monday.

"We have already agreed with them on the issue [of financing]. However, I cannot disclose any figures, in what percentage ratio will we do this," Özcan said, speaking at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul.

The BOTAŞ head said that the process of obtaining permits for the second line of TurkStream continues in a positive way, adding that "there are no pitfalls in it."

Bulgarian and Greek pipeline aims to cut gas dependency on Russia - FINANCIAL TIMES

Small but important gas pipeline eases dependency on Russia17.10.2016, Kerin Hope

Moves to increase energy sector competition, boost cross-border supplies and decrease the region’s and Europe’s dependency on Russia for natural gas are afoot in the Balkans.

An important part of the plan is the construction of a short but significant cross-border pipeline, the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (ICGB), due to start next year.

The 180km reverse-flow pipeline will be able to pump gas in either direction between Komotini, in Greece’s northeastern province of Thrace, and Stara Zagora in central Bulgaria.

Energy perspectives after Turkey's failed coup - NATURAL GAS EUROPE

July 16th, 2016

Turkey’s failed military coup mid-July raises a host of questions concerning the country’s stability, its investment climate and the future of gas deliveries to and though Turkey. It may also boost the prospects for a revival of the stalled Turkish Stream project to deliver Russian gas to Europe via Turkey.

For gas, there are two main issues to be considered: the security of the current and future import pipelines; and the possibility that the aftermath of the coup might prompt a re-think of future gas import projects.

Turkey relies massively on imported gas to meet its energy needs, with most coming via four major import pipelines: the 15bn m³/yr eastern Balkans line via Ukraine – a system which Russia has said it intends to close by the end of 2019; the 15bn m³/yr capacity Blue Stream pipeline across the Black Sea from Russia; the 6.6bn m³/yr Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) system from Azerbaijan; and the 10bn m³/yr capacity line that brings Iranian gas across the border at Dogubayezit.

Turkey to legislate for further opening of gas market: report - PLATTS

Istanbul (Platts)--8 Apr 2016

Turkey is planning new legislation to further open the country's gas market, which is currently dominated by state gas importer and transmission operator Botas, Mustafa Yilmaz head of Turkey's energy regulator EPDK said in an interview published in Turkish business daily Dunya Thursday.

The new gas market law would facilitate the unbundling of Botas and the holding of new tenders for the transfer of Botas' import volumes to the private sector to enable the operation of a liberalized gas market, Yilmaz said.

Yilmaz added that Turkey's energy market is ready for such a move, pointing out that previous tenders for the transfer of volumes from Botas' import contracts had experienced limited success because the market was not ready.