Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 4 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
An explosion on the Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline transporting Azerbaijani gas to Turkey took place as a result of a terror act, the Turkish ministry of energy and natural resources told Trend on Thursday. Last time the explosion hit this pipeline was on May 29, 2012.
According to the ministry, the gas supply from Azerbaijan was stopped as a result of the explosion. However, Turkey is not going to increase gas supplies from other countries as there is no shortage of natural gas in the country.
Regarding the supplies from Azerbaijan, the ministry stressed that gas transportation via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline will be restored within seven to 10 days.
Earlier, Turkish media reported that an explosion occurred on the section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline in the Sarikamis district, situated in the Turkish province of Kars.
As BP Azerbaijan (technical operator of Shah Deniz) told Trend, at the request of Turkish pipeline company Botas, the gas supply to the company's system was suspended.
The Shah Deniz platform has not stopped and gas is supplied to Azerbaijan, Georgia and the pumping stations of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline in normal mode 24 hours a day.
Turkey has a contract for the supply of 6.6 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas annually from the Shah Deniz field via the South Caucasus pipeline.