Turkey, Russia's Gazprom survey new pipeline route

Turkey?s energy minister and Russia?s Gazprom chief took a helicopter ride over the Black Sea to survey a possible route for the ?Turkish Stream? pipeline.

Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z and Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller took off from Istanbul and flew along the Black Sea coast, continuing as far as Ipsala on the Turkish-Greek border, to evaluate the possible entry points of the proposed pipeline.

The two officials made it back to Istanbul by using a route over the Marmara Sea coastline to finish the four-hour flight.

Y?ld?z said a research committee would file a report on the first assessments of the pipeline soon, possibly by Feb. 10. The committee would consist of Gazprom members and Turkey?s Petroleum Pipeline Corporation, BOTA?.

?With the four-hour aerial tour, we had an opportunity to see how we can begin such a project in Thrace and explore the pipeline route,? he said. ?We passed over some places two to three times as we tried to assess how we can work with environmental concerns in some agricultural areas, forests and wet lands,? he added.

Y?ld?z also said the negotiation process for the pipeline involved discussions over the price of natural gas from Russia for Turkey. ?Turkey is sensitive about negotiations on the price of natural gas as much as it is about the realization of the Turkish Stream pipeline,? he said.

In December, Russia scrapped the South Stream project, which planned to carry gas under the western Black Sea to Bulgaria and further into European markets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a new gas pipeline route via the Black Sea to reach Turkey?s northwestern Thrace region, dubbed the Turkish Stream, which would also involve a gas hub at the Turkish-Greek border to transfer gas...