Turkey seeks alternatives as Russia suspends gas project

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu have travelled to key energy partners Qatar and Azerbaijan respectively in an effort to avert any economically damaging disruption in energy supplies as winter sets in.

Turkey has agreed with Azerbaijan to accelerate the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), with an aim to have the gas projected completed before the planned 2018, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said.

In a joint news conference with Azerbaijan President İlham Aliyev in the capital Baku, Davutoglu also said Turkey was willing to share details of its recent jet downing incident with Russia.

TANAP envisages carrying 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II field in the Caspian Sea, one of the world's largest gas fields, which is being developed by a BP-led consortium. The pipeline will run from the Turkish-Georgian border to Turkey's border with Bulgaria and Greece. The preliminary cost of the pipeline has been estimated at $10-$11 billion.

Russia could deal a real blow by reducing gas supplies, a move broadly seen by analysts and Turkish officials as unlikely for now but which could seriously hurt the Turkish economy and for which Ankara is drawing up contingency plans.

"There is indeed a crisis right now ... We are exploring how we can offset this," a Turkish energy official said. Ankara buys nearly 60 percent of its total gas needs -- around 27 billion cubic meters (bcm) -- from Russia via two main pipelines, which enter Turkey through the Marmara region, the country's industrial hub which includes Istanbul, its biggest city, and the most sensitive area to any disruption in supply.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia has suspended preparatory work on the Turkish Stream pipeline project, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.

"Currently work on Turkish Stream has been halted," Novak said.

He said though talks on building a nuclear power plant in Turkey remained open. Freezing work on the pipeline -- intended to pump Russian gas, via Turkey, into southeastern Europe while bypassing Ukraine -- would have a more symbolic than practical effect because the project is already beset by delays and doubts over its viability, experts have said. 

Even before the row with Ankara, the project had been delayed and reduced in scale, leading some industry insiders to doubt if it would ever happen.

 

(Today's Zaman)