Agreement Reached On Turkish Stream Gas Pipeline Project

The leaders of Russia and Turkey on 10 October 2016 officially signed an agreement on the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara and signed the deal that is estimated at US$12.7 billion and would carry Russian natural gas to Turkey and on to Europe under the Black Sea.

“You now witnessed the signing of the intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the Turkish Stream. As part of this project and the broadening of our cooperation, we agreed on a mechanism by which to provide a discount on gas (for Turkey),” said Putin according to RT.

Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said Gazprom of Russia and Botas of Turkey would take the responsibility of figuring out the amount of the discount.

Gazprom and Botas in 2014 reached a memorandum of understanding for the construction of Turkish Stream, which will purportedly have a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas including 14 bcm for the Turkish market.

Plans for Turkish Stream grounded to a halt, in November 2015, however, after Turkish forces shot down a Russian air force jet. Erdogan apologized for the incident last August and claimed that building the pipeline was a priority for his administration.

Aside from Turkish Stream, Putin and Erdogan also reached other pacts including speeding up the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear energy plant and strengthening bilateral military contacts.

Putin is expected to formally meet with other government representatives including envoys from Venezuela during the 23rd World Energy Congress.

By Erwin Cifuentes for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• Failing U.S. Energy Policy Needs Some Radical Changes
• Trump And Hillary On Energy: All Noise, No Substance
• The Billion Barrel Oil Swindle: 80% Of U.S. Oil Reserves Are Unaccounted-For