Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.12 / Trend, A. Taghiyeva /
Russia's joining Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline will be welcomed by the project participants, Ridvan Akturk, director of the Turkish Calik Energy Company, one of the project participants, wrote Trend in an e-mail on Monday.
"We positively assess Russia's participation in the Samsun-Ceyhan project," Akturk said.
He said if Russia will express its desire to be involved in this oil pipeline project, the parties can discuss all the details of the joint participation and allocate responsibilities for its implementation.
The Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline is designed to pump 60-70 million tons of oil per year. It will enable to transport oil bypassing the loaded Bosporus and Dardanelles straits.
In the autumn of 2011, "Transneft" announced about freezing the negotiations over the pipeline due to its unprofitability.
According to the studies, one ton of oil supplied within the project will cost $19-$20, whereas transportation costs through the Turkish straits hit $6-$8 per ton.
Akturk also said that the project assessment by the Commission on environmental impact is under completion.
"It is expected that the Samsun-Ceyhan project will get approval by the first quarter of 2012," Akturk said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that excessive loading of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles with oil tankers poses a great danger to navigation and coastal areas and it is unacceptable for Turkey, so we need to create a new route (Samsun-Ceyhan) for oil supplies.
Bulgaria's Finance Minister Simeon Djankov recently said that Bulgaria stops its participation in the Trans-Balkan pipeline project, designed to ensure Russian oil supplies to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis through Bulgaria, bypassing the Bosporus Strait, which increases attractiveness of Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline route through Turkey.