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Gazprom completes construction of first leg of Turkish Stream gas pipeline

The average speed of the construction in the deep-water area, carried out by the Pioneering Spirit vessel, reached 4.3 km per day

© Vitaliy Nevar/TASS

MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/. The construction of a deep-water part of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline’s first leg finished on Monday near Turkey’s Black Sea coast, Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said.

The average speed of the construction in the deep-water area, carried out by the Pioneering Spirit vessel, reached 4.3 km per day. The maximum efficiency - 5.6 km per day - was achieved twice this February.

The Pioneering Spirit vessel will continue the deep-water construction of the second leg of the gas pipeline in the third quarter of 2018.

"The Turkish Stream project’s implementation is successfully continuing. An important stage has been achieved - the gas pipeline’s first leg has been built. The construction rate is high," Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said.

Since May 7, 2017 when the construction of Turkish Stream’s offshore section began, a total of 1,161 km of the gas pipeline or 62% have been constructed, he said, stressing: "No doubt, the Turkish Stream will play a great role in enhancing energy security of Turkey and Europe."

Turkish Stream project

Gazprom began construction of the offshore section of the Turkish Stream near the Russian Black Sea coast in May 2017. The project involved construction of the gas pipeline through the Black Sea to the European part of Turkey and further to the border with Greece. The length of the sea part of the pipe is expected at around 930 km, the overland part on the Turkish territory - 180 km.

The first leg will be intended for the Turkish market, the second - for gas supply to the countries of South and South-Eastern Europe. The capacity of each leg reaches 15.75 bln cubic meters of gas per year.

The first gas supplies are planned for the end of 2019. Construction of a sea section of the gas pipeline is carried out by South Stream Transport B.V. (100% subsidiary of Gazprom).

Gazprom’s investments in the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline for 2018 are planned at around 182.4 bln rubles ($2.9 bln) versus almost 93 bln rubles ($1.49 bln) in 2017. Russia’s gas producer estimates the cost of the Turkish Stream construction at 7 bln euros.

Turkey is Gazprom’s second-largest export market. Currently, Russian gas supplies to Turkey are carried out through the Blue Stream gas pipeline and the Trans-Balkan corridor.

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