Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 8
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Russia needs the Turkish Stream more than Turkey, Kenan Yavuz, the head of SOCAR Turkey Enerji, said in an interview with Turkish Bloomberg.
While commenting on the decrease of the Turkish Stream capacity, Yavuz said that the Turkish Stream does not exist yet.
"But even if its capacity decreases twofold after this project implementation, this is not a big threat for Turkey," he said.
Alexey Miller, Gazprom head, said that Gazprom refused from a half of the Turkish Stream capacity, the capacity of pipes will hit up to 32 billion cubic meters of gas.
"Of course, we pay great attention to the southern direction as part of our transport route diversification strategy," he said. "At present, one can say that the Turkish Stream capacity can hit up to 32 billion cubic meters of gas. Taking into account the decisions on the northern direction, this is that realistic position at the negotiations on which we will work in the near future."
Gazprom in the last Eurobond memorandum changed the positioning of the project to expand the gas transit system for supply of the gas first to the South Stream, and now the Turkish Stream, an increase in gas supplies to the southern regions of Russia is now in the first place in the positioning of this project.
Alexander Medvedev, Gazprom deputy chairman of the board earlier said that the commissioning of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, originally scheduled for late 2016, may be postponed to late 2017.
"The project of the first gas pipeline string could be implemented in December 2016," he said. "Now, since there is no intergovernmental agreement, the deadline shifts," said Medvedev.
He went on to add that it all depends on how quickly the document is signed. In addition, the political situation in Turkey, where a new government will be formed November 1 after the election, affects implementation of the project.
The project for the 'Turkish Stream' involves the construction of four gas pipeline strings at a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas each. The gas, which is to go via the first string, is completely meant for Turkish market, while the remaining volumes will be brought to Turkey's border with Greece, where a gas hub is planned to be located.
In early August 2015, Gazprom was reported to have revised plans on construction of the 'Turkish Stream' and that it would give up the third and fourth strings of the pipeline.
The reason was said to be the "absence of a key agreement on granting Ankara a discount on Russian gas."
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu