- It is noted that the earliest timeframe for the construction and launch of such a line is in early 2025
According to TASS, Russia's state-owned news agency article published on October 19, 2022, Russian gas supplies via new gas pipelines across the Black Sea and Turkey, as well as the planned gas hub, are intended for the countries of Central Europe and may not start until 2025, head of the Energy Development Center Kirill Melnikov said in an interview with TASS.
"The main question is who will buy the gas. We think that such a project is intended for the markets of Central Europe, which do not have direct access to LNG due to their geographical location. The main potential client is Austria, which can buy 8 billion cubic meters. It could also be delivered to Moldova (3 billion cubic meters in reverse through the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline) andadditional volumes to Hungary. This may be enough to build another line with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters," the expert says.
The earliest timeframe for the construction and launch of such a line is in early 2025, Melnikov noted.
However, at the moment, the demand for Russian gas in the European market is not enough for the use of two lines simultaneously. The total capacity of a possible new line together with the existing TurkStream route will be 63 bln cubic meters. If Austria refuses, the demand will be insufficient even for one line, the expert says.
Earlier, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller noted that Russia could redirect significant volumes of gas, which are comprable to supplies via Nord Stream, to Turkey via new gas transportation routes across the Black Sea. In turn, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia could potentially export about 63 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Europe through Turkey. He mentioned plans to build the South Stream gas pipeline, which was later replaced by the TurkStream with half the capacity of the South Stream.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced that an international hub would be created in his country to supply Russian gas to Europe. The hub could be created in the province of Kirklareli in the European part of Turkey, where a branch of the TurkStream gas pipeline lays, a source in Ankara's business circles told TASS.
"We believe that Gazprom intends to supply gas through this pipeline under long-term contracts, and the sales volume at the hub is likely to be insignificant," Kirill Melnikov told TASS.
About new gas project of Russia and Turkey
Speaking at the Russian Energy Week forum last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed creating the largest gas hub in Europe in Turkey and redirecting the volume of gas, the transit of which is no longer possible through the Nord Stream, to this hub. According to him, it may imply building another gas pipeline system and creating a hub in Turkey, through which gas will be supplied to third countries, primarily European ones, if they are interested.
The creation of a gas hub in Turkey was discussed on October 13 in Astana at talks between the Russian and Turkish presidents. According to Erdogan, the hub should be established as soon as possible and the most suitable place for it is the Thrace region in the European part of Turkey.
In 2019, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, told TASS that he did not rule out the implementation of the Turkish Stream 2 gas pipeline project if there is demand and required approvals.
