ISTANBUL - Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler said on Wednesday that natural gas pipeline between Turkey and Greece would be 210 km in length and noted that a tender would be held in July.
The Seventh Tale of Three Seas: Energy Conference organized jointly by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), started in Istanbul.
Delivering a speech at the opening of the conference, Guler said that Three Seas included 23 countries and stated, ''those countries went through very different political developments in the past. It should not be a tale anymore, but implementation. Thus, we undertook an active role here. We are also ready to undertake further role.''
Guler stressed that Turkey was kind of a bridge due its geographical location in a region where 65 percent of natural gas and 40 percent of oil of the world was found.
Stating that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project would make a completely different contribution to the region, Guler said that they hoped that Kazakhstan would also participate in this project.
Guler said that Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas project was further developed and noted that natural gas would be transported to Europe through two different lines. He added that one of those lines would transport natural gas via Greece to Italy and the other line would transport natural gas via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to Austria.
Noting that Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) and Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) would undertake important role, Guler said that natural gas pipeline between Turkey and Greece would be 210 km in length. Guler said that Turkish-Greek relations would be further improved and stressed that they also auctioned a project which was a very important project on electricity and transmission lines between Turkey and Greece.
Guler recalled that they would pass a law on oil drilling and stated that studies regulating petroleum market also continued.
Stating that they were reviewing agreements that were signed earlier, Guler said that price of natural gas that was bought by Blue Stream Project was reduced to the level that should be during talks with Russia.
(EÖ-AÖ) 16.06.2004