Bloomberg: Pipeline Boost Not Enough to Shield Turkey From Russian Gas Cut

A capacity increase in the Blue Stream natural gas pipeline from Russia won’t prevent Turkey from facing natural gas shortages, according to energy company Akfel Holding AS.

Western Turkey gets most of its gas through pipelines crossing Ukraine, and the ability to send Russian supplies from Blue Stream in the east is limited, Fatih Baltaci, president of Akfel, the Istanbul-based private gas importer, said in an interview at the ICIS European Gas Conference in Amsterdam. Turkey and Russia’s OAO Gazprom agreed this month to boost Blue Stream’s capacity by 19 percent.

Turkey got 57 percent of its gas from Russia last year, 49 percent of which was imported through Ukraine and the rest via Blue Stream, Bloomberg Intelligence said in an Aug. 18 report. Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine on June 16 over a debt and price dispute, fueling speculation flows to Europe will be disrupted in a re-run of similar disputes in 2006 and 2009.
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