TurkStream
The TurkStream project is aimed to provide security of supplies to Turkey and European countries.
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The offshore part of the pipeline will cross the Black Sea bed. Maximal depth along the route will reach 2,200 m. The length of the offshore part will amount to 910 km.
As planned, the TurkStream pipeline will surface on the shore of the European part of Turkey near Kıyıköy with gas delivery point at Lüleburgaz for the Turkish customers, and a border crossing between Turkey and Greece in İpsala serving as delivery point for the European customers.
The project complies with all environmental safety standards. The construction and operation technologies for the subsea pipeline foresee minimal impact on the environment, seabed geology, water quality and the habitat for marine fauna, mammals and sea birds as well as fishery.
Project steps:
On December 1, 2014, during the state visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to Ankara, Gazprom and Turkish company Botaş Petroleum Pipeline Corporation signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the construction of an offshore gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea.
On January 27, 2015, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Taner Yildiz, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Turkish Republic discussed the preliminary results of Feasibility study for the new pipeline and decided on its route.
On February 7, 2015, Alexey Miller and Taner Yildiz defined the key reference points of the route and technical solutions for the gas pipeline in Turkey.
On June 18, 2015, the Minister of Energy of Russia Alexander Novak and the Minister of Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy of Greece Panagiotis Lafazanis signed a Memorandum of cooperation on the construction and operation of the TurkStream pipeline on the territory of Greece.
On June 22, 2015, Turkey issued a permit on engineering surveys for the offshore section of TurkStream. The document stipulates that investigations will be carried out within the exclusive economic zone and territorial waters of Turkey regarding the first offshore string of the gas pipeline.
In September 2016, Gazprom received a series of permits for the TurkStream project from the authorities of the Turkish Republic including the first construction permit for the offshore section and the survey permit for the two strings of the offshore gas pipeline in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone and territorial waters.
On October 10, 2016, The Agreement on the TurkStream project between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Turkish Republic was signed in Istanbul. This document provides for the construction of two strings of the gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea, as well as an onshore string for gas transit to Turkey’s border with neighboring countries.
On November 29, 2016, the Commission on International Affairs of the Parliament of Turkey approved the draft law on the ratification of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Turk Stream project. On December 2, the Intergovernmental Agreement was approved within the plenary session of the Turkish Parliament. On December 6, the Law on ratification of the Intergovernmental Agreement entered into force after the approval by the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the publication in Turkey’s official periodical “Resmi Gazete”.
On December 8, 2016, South Stream Transport B.V. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom) and Allseas Group S.A. signed the contract to build the first string of the TurkStream gas pipeline’s offshore section with an option for laying the second string.
On January 20, 2017, the Intergovernmental Agreement on the TurkStream project was ratified by the State Duma of the Russian Federation, and on February 1, 2017 by the Federation Council of the Russian Federation.
On February 20, 2017 South Stream Transport B.V. and Allseas Group signed a contract to build the second string of the TurkStream gas pipeline’s offshore section. The document was signed as part of the option included in the construction contract for the pipeline’s first string, which had been inked in 2016.
Construction of the TurkStream gas pipeline was commenced on May 7, 2017 in the Black Sea near the Russian coast. On June 23, 2017, the docking of the shallow and deep-water parts of the TurkStream gas pipeline took place and the laying of the deep-water section started.
On April 30, 2018, Alexey Miller stated that the laying of the first string of the TurkStream is completed. He also noted that, as of late April 2018, a total of 1161 km have been laid along the two strings, which is about 62% of the offshore section length.