Russian oil company Gazprom starts construction of pipeline to Turkey
Construction of the TurkStream gas pipeline has begun in the Black Sea near the Russian coast, reports Interfax, citing a statement from Gazprom.
The pipeline is being laid by Allseas’ ship Audacia, which is contracted to lay both legs of the offshore gas pipeline. Audacia will subsequently pull the pipes from the shore through microtunnels.
In the deeper parts of the Black Sea, the pipelaying vessel Pioneering Spirit will lay the TurkStream pipeline.
“The project is implemented strictly according to plan, and by the end of 2019 our Turkish and European consumers will have a new, reliable route for importing Russian gas,” said Gazprom’s chief executive Alexey Miller.
In December 2016, Gazprom signed a contract with the Allseas Group for the construction of the first line of the offshore section of the gas pipeline, with the option to lay the second line. The length of the sea section of the TurkStream will be about 900 km (560 miles). It will extend from Anapa, where work has begun, to a location on the Turkish coast of the Black Sea 100 km (60 miles) west of Istanbul. The maximum depth of the pipeline will be 2,200 meters (7,200 ft.).
The first line of the gas pipeline is intended for the Turkish market, and the second for the countries of Southern Europe. Each line has a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Plans for the construction of the gas pipeline were announced as early as 2014, but the project was postponed after the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Su-24 aircraft on the border with Syria in November 2015. Relations between the countries worsened until June 2016, when Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan apologized.
Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement for the construction of the Turkish Stream in October 2016. President Vladimir Putin ratified the agreement in February 2017.
In March, the countries prepared the regulatory framework for the construction of the first stage of the gas pipeline and also discussed the construction schedule, said Alexander Novak, the head of the Ministry of Energy.