The Blue Stream gas pipeline: interesting facts

The Blue Stream is the largest trans-Black Sea gas pipeline, through which fuel comes from Russia to Turkey. It was built by the Dutch branch of OOO Gazprom BV and the Italian Eni and began operating in 2005. Part of the gas pipeline in Turkey is controlled by the local energy company BOTAS. The rest is under the control of the Russian Federation. The main goal of the Blue Stream is to diversify the ways of delivering Russian fuel to Turkey bypassing third countries.

History of creation

Preparation of the gas pipeline project began in 1997. In December, Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of a seaside canal. At the same time, Gazprom agreed with BOTAS about a 25-year contract for the supply of fuel. In February 1999, a Memorandum was signed between the Russian and Italian sides, and a Dutch branch was established.

The construction of the Blue Stream was carried out in 2001-2002. The offshore section was designed by the Italian company Saipem, and the Russian land section by Stroytransgaz. "Blue Stream" started working in February 2003. However, due to the conflict between Russia and Turkey over the price of fuel, the official opening ceremony at the gas metering station Darusu was only September 17, 2005. It was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Prime Ministers of Turkey and Italy.

Technical characteristics of the gas pipeline

The Blue Stream began operating at full capacity in 2010. Its capacity is 16 billion cubic meters. The total length of the Blue Stream is 1213 kilometers. The Russian part begins with the Abundant Gas Plant next to Stavropol and ends in the Krasnodar Territory. A large extent is in Turkey - 444 kilometers. Pipes with different diameters are used in the pipeline: the land part is 1400 millimeters, the mountain part is 12000 millimeters, the sea one is 610. The pressure reaches 25 MPa. "Blue Stream" is considered the deepest gas pipeline in the world. It lies 2.2 km below ground level.

In 2014, Turkey and Russia reached an agreement on increasing the capacity by 3 billion cubic meters. Also, the fuel price was audited.

Financing and the first difficulties

"Blue Stream" is a very large-scale project. Its actual development started in 1987, when Turkey began to import fuel from the USSR. Initially, the volume was 0.5 billion cubic meters, to date it has grown 34 times. This construction is an extremely large-scale project. The problems started at the first stage, so it was launched with a delay of three years. The total cost of construction of the gas pipeline was 3.2 billion US dollars. It was paid jointly by the Turkish and Russian sides. The construction of the sea part was spent 1.7 billion US dollars.

Immediately after the gas pipeline was launched, the Turkish side stated that it was not ready to accept such volumes of fuel. To prevent the project from failing, the Russian Federation lowered the price and decided to cut the supply. But this is not the end of the argument . In 2004, Vladimir Putin had to intervene and reduce the price to the level of supply along the Bulgarian route.

The Blue Stream-2 gas pipeline

The project of a new highway was first proposed in 2002. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the construction of the second line and the extension of the existing gas pipeline with the help of the Samsun-Keihan link and branches to South-Eastern Europe. The development of the project intensified after the decision of the five countries to begin the construction of Nabucco. However, soon the talk about expansion turned into a project called "South Stream". The new gas pipeline should connect directly to Bulgaria and Russia. But now it is in a frozen state due to the aggravation of relations with Ukraine.

In 2009, Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister proposed a highway that would run parallel to the Blue Stream under the Black Sea and continued on its way from Samsun to Keihan. From there, he could transport gas to Syria, Libya, Israel and Cyprus. To date, this project remains a matter of exceptional long-term prospects, there are no updates on its status yet.

Environment protection

The construction of the Blue Stream was connected with large-scale protests of environmentalists. But they did not have a significant impact on the process itself, as official environmental impact assessments showed little damage to it. The construction was continued, the launch of the project proved that there were no serious reasons for concern. But all these assessments remain controversial, because all parties are extremely interested in its functioning. Moreover, all the examinations were mainly conducted by Russia, for which the Blue Stream is of strategic importance, especially after the aggravation of its relations with Ukraine and the freezing of the South Stream. Although in the case of obvious violations, the US side would not hesitate to intervene.

Current state

The Blue Stream gas pipeline is a project that should become the basis of strategic cooperation between Russia and Turkey in the energy and transport spheres. The existing direction of transit went through Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria. The land transportation of fuel made it more expensive, there were numerous complaints about its theft by the states on whose territory it lay.

But from the very beginning of the Blue Stream operation, the project had difficulties, including within Russia. As shown by the audit carried out by the Court of Accounts, the Italian company took advantage of non-preferential benefits. This, of course, caused damage to the state budget. According to estimates of experts, only in 2003 it amounted to 1 billion US dollars.

Problems and prospects

Russia initially proposed the construction of a gas pipeline under the Black Sea. One of the political goals set by the Blue Stream scheme was the need to overcome competitors in transporting gas to Europe. The country for which all are fighting is Turkey. "Blue Stream" is focused on its territory, as well as the next project. Already in November 1999, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia signed an intergovernmental agreement on the Trans-Caspian route. A few months later, the leading companies of Genaral Electric and Royal Dutch Shell worked on this project. But disputes arose between the parties, so the construction was suspended.

To date, despite criticism from the United States, the Blue Stream has become of strategic importance, and Europe's dependence on Russian gas remains at the same level.