Russian company Gazprom completes maintenance on TurkStream pipeline as planned

Russian gas company Gazprom has completed maintenance work on the TurkStream pipeline as planned. The pipeline carries Russian gas to Europe via Turkey. Supplies through the pipeline were suspended on 5 June and resumed today, Reuters reported.

TurkStream runs from Russia across the Black Sea to Turkey. It has two strands: one is intended for Turkish consumers, while gas flows through the other to southern and southeastern Europe. Its total annual capacity is 31.5 billion cubic metres, and it began operating in January 2020.

The TurkStream pipeline is now the main route for Russian gas supplies to Europe and is used primarily by Hungary. Cheap Russian gas flowed into the EU for years mainly through the undersea Nord Stream pipeline, but it has been out of operation since explosions in September last year whose cause has yet to be clarified. Nothing so far suggests it will be repaired and brought back into service in the foreseeable future. After Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February last year, the EU declared its intention to stop importing oil and gas from Russia entirely and has instead been increasing purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG), especially from the United States.

Turkey has long aspired to become a major energy hub. In October last year, the country announced that it wanted to become a distribution hub for Russian gas flowing to Europe, and Russian and Turkish authorities were tasked with working together on the plan.