Pipeliners

05-19-2009 - MosNews - Moscow and Ankara have agreed on gas contract extensions and provisions for the construction of the second leg of the Blue Stream pipeline, officials say. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Turkish officials at the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, where regional leaders held negotiations on a separate project, South Stream. Putin held direct talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, before inviting Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz and Gazprom chief Alexei Miller to the table, Turkish daily Hurriyet reports. Both sides agreed to extensions of current gas contracts, which bring about 211.8 billion cubic feet of Russian gas to Turkish markets each year. Those contracts expire in 2012. Regarding pipelines, the leaders agreed on expansions to Blue Stream under the Black Sea. Officials expect the 754-mile Blue Stream at full capacity to transport 565 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year by 2010. In 2005, Russia and Turkey proposed a second leg of the route following European moves to develop plans for the Nabucco gas pipeline from Central Asian and Middle Eastern suppliers. Planners are looking to Blue Stream to supply markets in the Middle East, including Israel.