Existing oil/gas pipelines in Turkey
Turkey has emerged as the natural gas capital of the world in the next few decades. Pipeline transportation in Turkey has been funded mostly by the state, but countries like Russia and Iran have also invested considerably in this. Turkey is gradually becoming an energy giant. Let’s have a look at some of the existing planned pipelines in the country.
TurkStream
TurkStream was launched very recently through a joint venture of Turkey and Russia, aiming to establish energy cooperation between the two. Starting from Russia’s Akaya, it is received by Turkey at Kiyikoy. It stretches over 580 miles. The TurkStream is an important marker of the betterment of Turkey-Russia relations after the conflict in 2014.
TANAP
The construction of TANAP or the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline was finalized with Azerbaijan. Finished recently, it traverses about twenty provinces in Turkey. Running 1850 km, it is the longest pipeline in Turkey. It is worth a whopping $11 billion, but the investment is sure to pay off. Azerbaijan plans to transport natural gas via the TANAP to Europe via Turkey, Georgia and Greece.
Iraq-Turkey Pipeline
Work has started for a proposed new pipeline that will run in parallel to the already existing Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. The capacity will be 1.2 million barrels of oil daily. Iraq transports billions of barrels of oil yearly. It is investing heavily in pipelines and attempting to diversify export options to keep up the huge export records with production.
Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan Pipeline
This is a 1099 mile-long crude oil pipeline connecting Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia. It is the second-longest pipeline in post-soviet states, discharging a million barrels of oil daily. At the end of 2020, the total oil shipped hit 3.5 billion barrels. The Turkish part of the pipeline is operated and controlled by BOTAS International.
Blue Stream
Blue Stream is a natural gas pipeline transporting gas between Russia and Turkey. The total cost for the pipeline is $3.4 billion, carrying 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The pipeline has three routes – running from Izobilnoye in Russia to Ankara and Samsun in Turkey. However, the pipeline is currently idle, set to relaunch soon.
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline running between Azerbaijan and Turkey, starting from Baku and terminating at Erzurum. It runs more than 600 km and transports 25 billion cubic meters of gas yearly. Turkey has expressed interest in coordinating more with the Caucasus pipeline.
Conclusion
Turkey has considerable potential to become a hub for oil and gas. It has good ties with supplier countries of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iraq and should invest heavily in pipeline construction in the future, acting as a corridor for exports to Europe and Central Asia. Though its economy is at a sensitive stage, such investments will only be profitable in the long run. It will also make sure that Turkey consolidates its economic and political power in the region.