Turkey to Launch Natural Gas Pipeline Project

Turkey to launch natural gas pipeline project

ANKARA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) — Turkey will launch a new pipeline in northern Turkey off the Black Sea to import natural gas from Russia, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Monday.

The project, named Blue Stream Project with an estimated cost of 3.5 billion US dollars, covers the installation of 1,200 km pipeline. Some 376 km of the pipeline will be laid 2,100 meters beneath the Black Sea.

Russia is expected to make a proposal to extend the pipeline from Samsun to Turkey’s southern town of Ceyhan in order to sell natural gas to Israel, the report said.

Turkey imported 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2003, 3.2 billion cubic meters in 2004 and 2.1 billion cubic meters from Russia as of June 2005 through Blue Stream Project initiated in 2003, the report said.

Turkey signed a contract with Russia in 1997 to receive an annual of 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia over the next 25 years.

An official inauguration of the project will be held in Samsun on Nov. 17, Anatolia said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are expected to attend the ceremony, said the report.