Inspenet, March 8, 2023
Turkey, due to its geographical location and infrastructure, is considered a good place to have a gas hub, according to experts.
Turkey is a convenient place to organize supplies and set the gas price for southeast Europe, explained Sergei Kolobanov, an analyst at the Russian Center for Strategic Research (Russian public policy think tank based in Moscow).
His argument is based on the country’s privileged location, the existing gas infrastructure (incoming gas pipelines from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, outgoing pipelines to Greece and Bulgaria, plus various receiving terminals for liquefied natural gas and own production, even with the prospect of a significant increase in extraction in the fields of the Black Sea) and the quite large volumes that can be moved.
In this way, in 2022, according to Kolobanov, from Turkey to Europe almost 13,000 million cubic meters of gas were pumped from Russia, as well as a little more than 11,000 million cubic meters from Azerbaijan, and Bulgaria, for example, signed an agreement with Turkey to import gas through its terminals.
In this way, it is possible to implement the cash payment through a virtual platform on the border of Turkey and Bulgaria, in addition, for the additional volumes of gas that exist, any customer can buy in terms of reference points formed ( Benchmark), argues Sergei Kapitonov, an analyst at the Skoltech Center for Energy Transition and ESG Projects. Such a project can be implemented within two years and “it’s not that difficult.” In his opinion, it is enough to supply the Russian gas pipelines Turk Stream, Blue Stream and increase supplies from Azerbaijan and Iran.
The gas ‘hub’, as pointed out by the Turkish president, Recer Tayyip Erdogan, may be located in the Thrace region, in the European part of the country. The gas from there, according to the Turkish researchers, can be sent along three branches: the southern branch will go to Italy, the middle one to Bulgaria, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia and other countries, and the from the north, to Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and from there to Germany.
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