Page 7 - Euroil Week 42 2019

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil
Gazprom starts filling TurkStream with gas
TURKEY
The pipeline is due to start up this year.
RUSSIA began lling the rst of the TurkStream gas pipeline’s two strings with gas on October 18, in preparation for its operational launch.
“ is is the nal step in the commissioning of the pipeline,” project operator South Stream Trans- port, a subsidiary of Gazprom, said in a statement.
TurkStream runs from Russia for 930km along the bed of the Black Sea, terminating in Turkey’s western race region. Its rst string will supply up to 15.75bn cubic metres of gas per year to Turkish consumers, while its second will run further, passing through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.
Gazprom broke ground on the project in May 2017, a er hiring Swiss-based Allseas to lay the pipe, and work on both strings’ o shore sections was completed in November last year.
South Stream transport con rmed that the rst string was still due on stream by the end of this year, without disclosing a rm date. Con- struction of its receiving terminal in Turkey is in its “ nal stages”, and Turkish gas transmission operator Botas is building an onshore pipeline
connecting the string with the country’s national network, it said.
A joint venture between Botas and Gazprom is also working on another onshore line to carry gas from the second string to the Turkish border with Bulgaria. e string’s launch is anticipated in 2020 at the earliest.
Gazprom is also currently lling its 38 bcm per year Power of Siberia pipeline to China with gas. e pipeline is due to start up on December 1, although it is not expected to operate at full capacity for several years.
Meanwhile, Gazprom’s third major pipeline project, Nord Stream 2, is running on schedule and was 83% complete as of early October. But delays seem likely ahead, as Gazprom is still waiting for approval from Denmark to run the pipeline through its waters. The company is considering rerouting Nord Stream 2 to bypass Danish territory, but doing so means that the 55 bcm per year pipeline will fail to start up by the end of this year as planned, and incur hundreds of dollars in extra costs. ™
Bulgaria taps loans for TurkStream construction
BULGARIA
Bulgartransgaz needs the funds to make advanced payments to contractors.
BULGARIA’S state gas grid operator Bulgar- transgaz has raised EUR200mn ($222mn) in short-term loans to nance construction of the TurkStream extension through its territory.
e company will need the funds to cover advance payments to Saudi-led group Arkad, which has been hired to build 474 km of pipeline through Bulgaria for EUR1.1bn. It also needs to pay a Bulgarian-German group that agreed to install two compressor stations along the gas link for EUR179.4mn.
Nine banks led documents to provide the funds, Bulgartransgaz said, and contracts were signed with Citibank Europe, ING, Unicredit’s Bulgarian unit and the Moscow-based Interna- tional Bank for Economic Co-operation. e grid operator initially sought only EUR150mn in loans.
“The successful procedure ensured cred- its to Bulgartransgaz from banks totalling to
EUR200mn, collateralised with cash deposits in US dollars for six months, with a possibility for another six.”
e loans will generate a positive e ect of more than EUR1mn in interest as dollar rates were substantially higher than euro rates, the company said.
TurkStream consists of two strings running under the Black Sea to Turkey that will carry 15.75bn cubic metres per year of Russian gas each. e rst string, which will serve the Turk- ish market, is currently being lled with gas in preparation for the launch of supplies later this year.
The second string, due on stream in 2020 at the earliest, will have an extension passing through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. Bulgaria launched the rst 11 km of its section running from the Turkish border to the Strandzha com- pressor station on October 21.™
Week 42 24•October•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7