Russia

Russia-based energy giant Gazprom is seeking to extend its business relations with Turkey, with plans to launch new projects to enlarge its delivery area in the Middle East and Israel via Turkey in particular.

Turkey faced another natural gas shortage earlier this winter as gas delivery from Iran to Turkey dropped in December 2007 and came to a complete halt in January. Iran announced it had stopped gas transportation as its domestic consumption had soared due to the cold weather. Subsequently, Turkey asked Gazprom to increase gas shipments to Turkey.


In December 2007 Gazprom increased gas supplies from 30 to 38 million cubic meters per day. In January, after Iran suspended deliveries, Blue Stream — the pipeline with which Gazprom transports gas to Turkey — pumped close to 41 million cubic meters of gas to Turkey daily, which corresponds to an increase of about 33 percent. In addition, Gazprom supplies natural gas to Turkey through a second pipeline via the Balkans, where supplies were sharply increased between Jan. 18-21 to 42.4 million cubic meters — 4.5 million cubic meters above the forecasted volumes.

In a Friday interview with Today’s Zaman, Gazprom said Turkey was one of their most important markets, and currently the third largest in Europe. The volume of exports to Turkey via the Blue Stream gas pipeline has continued to grow from year to year. In 2006, 19.9 billion cubic meters of gas were exported to Turkey, and “according to preliminary estimates, Russian natural gas supplies to Turkey grew over 10 percent in 2007 to comprise close to 22 billion cubic meters.” Gazprom also emphasized that they have been a reliable supplier of natural gas to Turkey, especially in times of gas shortage. Furthermore, the company said Blue Stream represented an already existing gas transportation corridor for the implementation of new projects, one of which could become the Blue Stream 2, which is currently at the revision stage. With the realization of the Blue Stream 2, Gazprom will be able to deliver to Israel and to the Middle East. “The political situation in this region suggests that the option of transit through Turkey is the only viable one for the time being,” Gazprom said.

Today’s Zaman