Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkish Stream project initiated by Russia is not a rival to the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) project, Turkish Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Sefa Sadik Aytekin told Trend.
Turkish Stream which is the precursor of the South Stream differs from it, he said.
The deputy minister added that while in case of the South Stream additional volumes of Russian gas to Europe were considered, with Turkish Stream there are no plans for additional gas supplies.
Regarding the Turkish Stream project, the issue is that Russia intends to sell gas to Europe not though Ukraine, but through Turkey from 2019, Aytekin said.
"Taking this into account, one can say with confidence that Turkish Stream is neither alternative, nor rival to TANAP," Turkish deputy minister said.
The TANAP project envisages the transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from the Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey. TANAP's initial capacity is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be delivered to Turkey and the rest of the volume to Europe.
Aytekin said currently Ankara and Moscow are holding talks on the implementation of Turkish Stream project which has many unresolved technical issues.
"As long as they are not resolved, we can't say that the sides have reached a final agreement," Sadik Aytekin said.
Turkish Stream envisages transportation of gas from Russia to Turkey through the Black Sea. Russia's Gazprom company and Turkish BOTAS signed a memorandum of understanding on construction of the pipeline on December 1, 2014. The pipeline's pumping capacity will be 63 billion cubic meters. The 1,100 kilometer-gas pipeline will consist of four branches and supply 47 billion cubic meters of gas to the Turkish-Greek border. A gas hub is expected to be created on the border between Turkey and Greece. The EU countries must independently create their own gas transportation facilities to receive this gas in their territories.
Edited by Sİ
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