Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the Turkish city of Istanbul to mark the completion of the offshore part of TurkStream, a major pipeline project under the Black Sea that will transport natural gas from Russia to Europe through Turkey. TurkStream, or Turkish Stream, is a natural gas pipeline…
Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the Turkish city of Istanbul to mark the completion of the offshore part of TurkStream, a major pipeline project under the Black Sea that will transport natural gas from Russia to Europe through Turkey.
Background
TurkStream, or Turkish Stream, is a natural gas pipeline running from the Russian Federation to Turkey. The pipeline begins at the Russkaya compressor station near Anapa. It runs approximately 910 kilometres offshore. The landing point in Turkey is Kıyıköy, a village in the district of Vize in Kırklareli Province at northwestern Turkey. From there, the 180-kilometre-long pipeline will run to Lüleburgaz.
The pipeline has two lines with a total capacity of 31.5 billion cubic metres per annum of natural gas. Both lines use pipes with an outer diameter of 32 inches. TurkStream will be the first 32-inch sized system to be laid at depths of over 2 kilometres and will cost around $7 Billion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the project in Ankara in 2014, as a replacement for the cancelled South Stream project, which was to have been built in cooperation with other European Union countries. Since the first-ever underwater gas pipeline was built in the 1950s, technology has developed significantly and offshore pipelines are now one of the safest and most efficient ways of transporting hydrocarbons such as natural gas. To date, there have been no major incidents involving these offshore gas pipelines.
Analysis
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at the Turkish city of Istanbul on 18 November to mark the completion of the offshore part of TurkStream, a major pipeline project under the Black Sea. Once ready, it will transport natural gas from Russia to Europe through Turkey but will bypass Ukraine.
The west of Turkey and a number of European countries currently rely on an older system which runs via Ukraine. Over the past 20 years, lack of investments and modernisation have made this system less reliable, posing a risk for those countries that depend on it for all their energy. In the future, TurkStream will solve this by providing a direct connection to Russian gas reserves, to transport up to 31.5 billion cubic metres of gas to the region each year. It is like to be operational by the end of 2019.
Gazprom completed the construction of a section of the TurkStream project ahead of schedule, according to Putin’s comments. It began work on a pipeline in the spring of 2017 and laid the line across 930 km of the Black Sea to Turkey. It is expected to stretch toward southern Europe, to enable trading with Greece, Italy, Hungary and Serbia. The EU already imports a third of its energy from Russian energy giant Gazprom. Turkey is a major recipient of Russian natural gas and is also the fourth largest natural gas consumer in Europe. Ankara says that the pipelines from Russia will bring 32 billion cubic meters of gas flow annually, of which half will be used in Turkey and the rest in other areas of the region.
The TurkStream project is a symbol of growing Russian-Turkish ties and their efforts at improving energy cooperation. Strained by the war in Syria, where Russia backs the Syrian regime and Turkey backs the opposition rebels, Erdogan and Putin have met numerous times over the last two years to discuss Syria and larger regional cooperation. With both Russia and Turkey having difficult relations with the US, they see each other as natural partners on some issues. The two countries have worked to increase economic cooperation in recent months. This includes a $20 billion nuclear power plant project, a $2.5 billion dollar S-400 air defence system deal, and negotiating a ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib Province, where Turkish troops are now deployed not far from Russian forces in Latakia.
This cooperation is based on mutual interests. Russia needs more markets for its gas in order to develop more sources of energy; however, Turkey’s energy dependence puts the country at a disadvantage with regard to Moscow, as evidenced by Putin halting the TurkStream project in 2015, when Turkish forces shot down a Russian jet over Syria.
Assessment
Our assessment is that the pipeline from Russia is part of Turkey’s larger ambitions to become a natural gas trading hub and also position itself, along with Russia, as among the strongest countries in the region. We believe TurkStream will have a significant impact on the economic development of Turkey and the entire Black Sea region. In our opinion, it will also be an important factor in guaranteeing energy supply to the rest of Europe.
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