Gazprom to change Turkish Stream deadline after states’ relations improve

MOSCOW, Feb 1 (PRIME) -- Russian gas giant Gazprom will adjust the timeframe of the Turkish Stream project after the Moscow–Ankara relations have normalized, Oleg Aksyutin, a member of Gazprom’s management board, said during the company’s investor day in New York.

“The deadlines of the Turkish Stream project will be adjusted after the Russian-Turkish relations have normalized and an intergovernmental agreement between the countries has been signed,” he said.

The company has optimized its work on the project, and now construction of only two threads of the natural gas pipeline is envisaged instead of four. Gazprom also delayed implementation of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project of Vladivostok LNG.

In December 2014, Russia decided to construct Turkish Stream, a pipeline that could run to the Turkey–Greece border to replace the South Stream pipeline, which was supposed to carry Russian natural gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine, scrapped partially on E.U. demands.

Initially, the Turkish Stream project foresaw construction of four lines with a total capacity of 63 billion cubic meters, but later media reported that the countries are likely to agree on construction of the first line primarily, which is designed to carry 15.75 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually to the Turkish market.

Moscow and Ankara are still to sign an agreement on the pipeline.

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