Russia's Gas Sales to Turkey up in 2017

Russian giant Gazprom has increased the supply of gas to Turkey by 21.7% since the beginning of year, compared with the same period in 2016, CEO Alexei Miller  told journalists after the meeting of Russia's president Vladimir Putin with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi November 14.

"Demand for Russian gas in Turkey is very high: from January 1 to November 13, Gazprom supplied 24.8bn m³ to Turkey, exactly equal to the total deliveries in 2016. This is a very good result and another graphic confirmation of the demand for the TurkStream gas pipeline, construction which is in full swing,, local media outlets quoted Miller.

On May 7, Gazprom started building the offshore section of TurkStream  and on November 4, Gazprom announced the completion of Russian part of the Black Sea section. The length of the offshore part of the pipe should be about 910 km with a further 180 km onshore Turkey.

Gazprom has revised the 2017 investment plan for TurkStream, doubling it to rubles 92.8bn ($1.55bn). The capacity of the first and second lines of TurkStream will each stand at 15.75bn m³/yr.  It is expected that gas transportation via the Turkish Stream will begin in December 2019.

Ilham Shaban