Page 8 - MEOG Week 02

MEOG PIPelInes & transPort MEOG
Turkey, Russia launch TurkStream
tUrkey
THE respective presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, last week officially launched the TurkStream natu- ral gas pipeline, which will carry Russian gas to Turkey and markets in south and south-eastern Europe, a region already heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies.
The pipeline project, stretching 930km (580 miles) across the black Sea, reinforces strong energy ties between Moscow and Ankara, which have also increased defence co-operation after Turkey bought advanced Russian missile defences last year. The duct is also part of Mos- cow’s efforts to reduce shipments to Europe through Ukraine.
The TurkStream pipeline project between Russian energy giant Gazprom and Turkey’s botas consists of two lines, each with an annual capacity of 15.75bn cubic metres – one to carry gas for the Turkish market, and another to ship the gas further westward on to bulgaria, Serbia, and potentially Italy and Hungary.
The official launch of the pipeline in Istan- bul was also attended by the prime ministers of bulgaria and Serbia, boyko borissov and Aleksandar Vucic respectively, as well as by Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Gazprom’s management committee chairman, Alexey Miller.
bulgaria started receiving gas via Turkstream on January 1, while Serbia and North Macedo- nia began receiving the Russian gas on January 5. “It is important for bulgaria to receive gas from different sources at competitive prices,” borissov said on Twitter after the ceremony. Russian gas producer Gazprom previously shipped gas to bulgaria through a route that passes through Ukraine and Romania. Gazprom will ship about 3 bcm of gas per year to bulgaria via TurkStream. Last month, Putin accused Sofia of delaying the building of the pipeline on its territory and said Moscow could find ways to bypass bulgaria if needed. Prime Minister borissov denied any deliberate delays.
Commenting on the launch of TurkStream, Gazprom’s Miller said in a statement: “Firstly, taking into account exports via blue Stream, we have paved the way for direct transit-free sup- plies to fully meet Turkey’s needs for Gazprom’s gas. Secondly, Europe now has a new and reliable route to receive Russian pipeline gas.”
“There is no doubt that, thanks to all of this, our co-operation with our Turkish and Euro- pean partners is shifting to a new level and is going to help improve energy security in the region,” Miller added.
Bypassing Ukraine
TurkStream will extend Russia’s dominance in gas supply to Turkey and south-eastern Europe and bypasses Ukraine, with which Russia has strained relations since the annexation of
Crimea in 2014. On 31 december, Russia and Ukraine reached a deal on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe at the eleventh hour, preventing a potential gas supply crisis during the winter in Europe. The pipeline is yet another conduit for Russia to lessen its need to transit gas destined for the European market through a pipeline network in Ukraine that has been subject to interruptions amid disputes between Moscow and Kiev.
Construction is also nearly completed on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will send Russian gas under the baltic Sea to Germany. Through this Russia will double the capacity of Nord Stream as part of the above-mentioned plans to bypass Ukraine, which is currently the main transit route for its gas to Europe. Ukraine halted its own direct imports of Russian gas in Novem- ber 2015. While Russia and Ukraine at the end of last year signed a five-year agreement on gas transit to Europe, volumes are set to fall from 65 bcm in 2020 to 40 bcm annually from 2021 to 2024.
The pipeline was a sign of “interaction and co-operation for the benefit of our people and thepeopleofallEurope,thewholeworld”,Putin said at the inauguration ceremony. Russia has already started European gas deliveries through the pipeline, gas operator bulgartransgaz said on Sunday.
Critics of Russia’s energy policy, including the US, the baltic states, Poland and several other EU countries, say that it is Moscow’s gas supply dominance that undermines Europe’s energy security. Last month, the US Senate approved a defence bill imposing sanctions related to both TurkStream and Nord Stream 2, as part of meas- ures designed “to deter Russian aggression”.
Although TurkStream – as well as the recently opened Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline from Azerbaijan – improves Turkey’s energy supply and, according to Vice-President Fuat Oktay, has secured the country’s place as a major energy corridor, it has raised concerns that Tur- key is becoming too reliant on Russian gas.
Necdet Pamir, head of energy policy at the Turkish Chamber of Petroleum Engineers, said that while TurkStream would ensure a steady supply of gas for Turkey it had left the country “tied by our necks to Russia”.
“The more you lean towards Russia and against the United States, the more you become vulnerable to Russia,” he told a local newspa- per. “You have difficulty using your bargaining power for natural gas.”
Turkey’s ability to negotiate the price of gas from Russia was hampered by foreign policy issues between the two countries, he added. The launch of TurkStream came after months of ten- sion in the eastern Mediterranean between Tur- key and Cyprus, Greece and others over energy exploration.™
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w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 02 15•January•2020