Gazprom determines gas pipeline route to Turkey

Russian gas giant Gazprom has announced that the route of the new gas pipeline to Turkey is agreed upon in principle with Turkish Energy Minister Taner Jildiz. The gas pipeline that should replace the abandoned South Stream project by end-2016 will go underneath the Black Sea until it reaches the town of Lilburgaz in northeast Turkey, Beta news agency reports.

Then the pipeline will cross the Greek-Turkish border near the town of Ipsala. The first arm of the gas pipeline, 900 kilometers long, will have a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas a year, while all four arms of the pipeline will be delivering 63 billion cubic meters of gas per year once completed.

This gas will be at the disposal of European countries, but Gazprom warns that these countries will have to build connecting pipelines at their own expense if they want to get Russian gas because this company has no intention to supply Europe with gas via Ukraine any more.

The Russian gas company announced early December that it was giving up the South Stream project valued at approximately USD 40 billlion (EUR 32 billion).