Hale Turkes
20 March 2019•Update: 20 March 2019
ANKARA
Efforts are underway to expand Turkey's energy exchange market and attract more actors from European countries, Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez announced Wednesday.
The minister told Anadolu Agency's Editors' Desk that gas pipeline projects like the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP) and the TurkStream would not only ensure Turkey's gas supply security and diversity, but would also play a big role in covering those of Europe.
"Thanks to the new pipelines, Turkey has become the region's energy trade hub. Works are ongoing not only to increase the number of pipelines, but also to expand the energy exchange market," he said, adding he also expects the involvement of European players.
TANAP, which carries Azerbaijani gas to Turkey, is the longest part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is set to connect to Europe through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). TAP will transport 10 billion cubic meters of Azeri gas per year to southeast Europe. TAP, which is the European leg of the corridor, is currently under construction, and completion is expected by 2020.
The TurkStream pipeline, on the other hand, will carry Russian gas to Turkey and Europe, and will have a total throughput capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters. The first line, which will serve Turkey, will have a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters. The second line, which will have the same capacity, will provide gas to Europe via Turkey.
Completion of the first line, comprising a 69-kilometer-long (43-mile) land section, is expected late this year, with first gas expected to flow shortly after.
New partnerships with foreign companies in Black Sea, Mediterranean
Donmez asserted that Turkey's current partnerships with international companies for oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea would continue, adding that the country is open to new cooperation in both seas, particularly in terms of oilfield services.
Last October, U.S.-based energy company Schlumberger announced in a financial report that Turkish Petroleum awarded a $15 million Integrated Services Management (ISM) contract to them for TP's drillship Fatih to drill the deepwater well Alanya-1 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
In line with the contract, Schlumberger is providing project management services for Fatih, and coordinating multiple product lines.
Turkey started its first deep-sea drilling offshore Antalya on the Mediterranean coast on Oct. 30, 2018, with the aim of performing up to four drillings per year. Seismic explorations are also ongoing in the Black Sea.
