Gazprom and Botas Ink Memorandum on Cooperation deepening in gas sector
Today, in Ankara, Alexey Miller, Gazprom’s Management Committee Chairman and Mehmet Bilgic, General Manager of the BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation inked a Memorandum on cooperation deepening in the gas sector.
Under the Document, Gazprom will study potential gas deliveries to Turkey to be effected to end-use consumers directly or through the Company’s business units.
To intensify gas consumption, BOTAS will assist Gazprom in its involvement in projects on gas supply, gas distribution and gas & power facilities construction in Turkey, with part of profit realized from Russian gas shipments to Turkey, planned to be invested in said projects.
The Memorandum lays special emphasis on increased reliability and safety of gas deliveries from Russia, particularly, in peak demand. In this connection, Gazprom and BOTAS will assess potential joint development of Turkish underground gas storage facilities. The Salt Lake vicinity will be regarded upon as a place for one of the promising underground storage facility construction projects.
The parties agreed to study joint projects on gas transit via Turkey to third countries (located, primarily, in the south) currently not receiving Russian gas.
Alexey Miller and Mehmet Bilgic expressed a common opinion that the present-day Turkish gas market liberalization was establishing additional pre-requisites for the development of new forms of cooperation with Russian gas being delivered to Turkey.
Background
Russian-Turkish cooperation in the gas industry began back in 1984, when the Governments of the Turkish Republic and USSR entered into an Agreement on natural gas supplies to Turkey. A total of some 105.8 bcm of natural gas delivered by the Trans-Balkans and Blue Stream gas pipelines was exported from Russia to Turkey between 1987 through 2003.
The Blue Stream gas pipeline is an addition to the existing gas transmission corridor from Russia to Turkey via the Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania and Bulgaria. Gas shipments by the Blue Stream pipeline substantially bolster secure gas supplies to Turkey and establish additional pre-requisites for said country’s gas market and infrastructure development. In 2003, the Blue Stream pipeline carried 1.3 bcm of Russian gas scheduled to be increased by 2 bcm in 2004.
Russian gas exports to Turkey are on an annual rise, increasing in 2003 by some 6% to 12.9 bcm.
Information Directorate, OAO Gazprom