Today, the city of Sochi has hosted a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Gazprom’s Management Committee Chairman and Mehmet Hilmi Guler, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister.

The meeting addressed a wide spectrum of matters in connection with Russian and Turkish joint businesses in the gas sector. The parties reviewed the present-day status and outlook of cooperation between Gazprom and the BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation, as stipulated by the December 2004 Memorandum of understanding.

Alexey Miller and Hilmi Guler highly appreciated the dynamically developing partnership ties between Russia and Turkey in the gas industry, underscoring that Russian natural gas deliveries to Turkey had been on a continuous rise and had substantial potential for growth.

Alexey Miller emphasized that Gazprom was building plans to drastically increase its gas exports to European countries and was overly aggressive in diversifying gas transmission routes. To this end, the parties pondered on promising projects of Gazprom’s gas deliveries via Turkey to the Near East and Central & South Europe.

The focus of the meeting also fell on joint involvement of Gazprom and BOTAS in expanding underground gas storage capacities in Turkey with the view of shaving peak consumption levels.

The parties noted that the Turkish gas market liberalization currently underway created good environment for Gazprom to promote new forms of cooperation, direct Russian gas supplies to end users inclusive.

Mehmet Hilmi Guler confirmed the intention of the Turkish Republic’s leadership “to go on establishing favorable conditions for cooperation between Gazprom and Turkish energy firms in the gas supply and investment activity sectors.”

Reference:

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 120.7 bcm of natural gas delivered by the Trans-Balkans and Blue Stream gas pipelines was exported from Russia to Turkey between 1987 through 2004.

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 the reliability of gas supplies to Turkey and establish additional pre-requisites for said country’s gas market and infrastructure development. In 2004, the Blue Stream pipeline carried 3.3 bcm of Russian gas, with an increase to 4.5 bcm scheduled for 2005.

Russian gas exports to Turkey have been on an annual rise, increasing in 2004 by some 6 percent to 14.5 bcm.

A natural gas import monopolist, the BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation was established as an affiliated company of Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in August 1974. BOTAS’ major businesses are oil & gas production and transmission, marketing survey and energy supply to end customers. In pursuance of the Gas Market Liberalization Law adopted by Turkey in 2002, BOTAS has partly handed over competitive contracts on natural resource imports to other energy firms.

On 6 December 2004, Gazprom and BOTAS inked a Memorandum on cooperation deepening in the gas sector. The Memorandum stipulates the possibility of direct or through subsidiaries deliveries of Gazprom’s gas to Turkish end-use consumers as well as potential joint involvement in gas supply & distribution and underground gas storage & gas-driven power plant development projects in Turkey.

DIVISION OF RELATIONS WITH MASS MEDIA