The Russian section of Turkstream, a pipeline that will carry Russian gas to Turkey via the Black Sea, has been completed, and the construction in the Turkish waters has begun.
According to Gazprom, the first pipeline of the Turkstream project entered the Turkish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on Saturday, November 2017.
Turkstream will consist of two offshore pipelines, both with a capacity to transport up to 15.75 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas per year (31.5 BCM in total)
Allseas-owned Pioneering Spirit, world’s largest pipelay and construction vessel, marked the occasion of entering into Turkish waters by laying down on the seabed the section of the pipeline with Russian and Turkish flags, symbolizing the crossing of the EEZ border between the two countries.
“The border crossing also marks the completion of construction of the two offshore lines within the Russian EEZ. In total 448 kilometers of the pipeline were laid down, equally divided over the two lines. Construction of nearly 25% of the offshore pipeline section has been realized in less than 6 months. This is in line with the planned construction schedule,” Gazprom said.
Gazprom has also shared that the average speed of pipelaying by Pioneering Spirit is more than of 4 kilometers per day, with a record set by the Allseas crew on November 1, 2017 by constructing 5.15 kilometers of Turkstream pipeline in one day.
The offshore section will run approximately 930 kilometers through the Black Sea, from the Russian city of Anapa to the Turkish town of Kiyiköy.
Gas transported via the first pipeline is destined for the Turkish market. The other pipeline will be directed towards the Turkish-European border. First gas is expected to flow through Turkstream in December 2019.