VERONA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2019) The project of the TurkStream second leg that will bring Russian gas to Europe may run into risks of US political pressure on EU nations and the growing competition of the liquefied natural gas, the Bosphorus Energy Club president, Mehmet Ogutcu, told Sputnik.
TurkStream is a twin pipeline that will run through the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey and is expected to carry 1.1 trillion cubic feet of gas per year. It consists of two lines, one for supplying gas to Turkey and the other to European countries bypassing potentially unreliable transit partners. While the first line will be operational this year, the infrastructure for the second leg in Europe is yet to be built. In Bulgaria, the work is scheduled to start in the first half of 2020.
"There are a couple of difficulties here [with TurkStream 2 completion]. First, it's the threat of the US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream 2 might also be included. If it happens last minute, Bulgaria as it has done before, under the pressure from the United States and from parts of the European Commission, might have to step back again. There is this risk," Ogutcu said on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona.
Another factor that can potentially threaten the new Russian project is competition from LNG.
"Now the pipeline gas and LNG gas prices are convertible. Many countries believe that LNG provides more flexibility and more freedom to negotiate better rates, so they are building LNG facilities," the president of the Bosphorus Energy Club pointed out.
He noted that Turkey itself had recently significantly increased LNG imports. In addition, the United States continues actively promoting such supplies to Europe.
"What the US is interested in as part of [President Donald] Trump's global energy domination strategy is to sell more LNG gas to Europe, stealing from the Russian market share," he said.
The United States and some European countries traditionally voice concerns over Russian energy projects. Moscow, in turn, dismisses the allegations as unfair competition practices, saying that all of its pipelines are purely commercial projects.
In 2014, Russia even had to abandon the South Stream project that had been set to carry gas to Europe through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary after Sofia repeatedly put on hold the construction over European Commission objections.
The Bosphorus Energy Club unites key players and stakeholders in the energy sector from Eurasia, China, the middle East and North Africa, the Gulf and Southeast Europe.
