Moscow and Ankara plan to discuss construction of a new gas pipeline, they are currently analyzing options for the route. Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said that the new gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey to replace the failed South Stream project of Gazprom may run under the Black Sea to the European part of Turkey.
The Russian oil and gas industry has been facing serious challenges in the last months. Russian President Vladimir Putin scrapped the South Stream construction on December 1, blaming the EU for allegedly being unconstructive and Bulgaria for bureaucracy. Meanwhile, oil prices took a sudden fall. Gennady Shmal, the president of the Union of Oil and Gas Industrialists of Russia, a member of the Council for Information and Cooperation of Enterprises of the Fuel and Energy Complex, still believes that Russia may take advantage of the situation in the mid or long-term developments.
The expert expressed disappointment over the failure of South Stream because of the colossal work and time wasted to come to agreements with all the countries involved, projecting work done, $5 billion spent by Gazprom.
According to Shmal, Bulgaria and the EU had been undermining the construction for a long time and clarity in this case is better than dragging the project out for years. A horrifying ending is better than endless horror.
“The Bulgarians in 2009 changed their position many times: they permitted, then they forbade. Some governments resigned, new governments emerged. Some decision had to be made. But the problem is not in Bulgaria, it is that the European Union was a persistent opponent of the South Stream. They kept maneuvering, lobbying for the Nabucco gas pipeline, failing to understand that it had no resources. Azerbaijan still does not extract the necessary volumes, Turkmenistan sent its gas in the Chinese direction. So Nabucco was destined to fail,” Shmal assumes.
“The proposal under discussion is gas supply through Turkey, it is similar to what some were talking about, about connecting Nabucco with South Stream. The decision voiced by our president is absolutely fair, correct and there can be no other variant at this stage,” Shmal supposes.
The expert says that Russia should take advantage of the situation if it cannot control oil prices: “Each country pursues its own prosperity, tries to keep its market outlet. First of all, we certainly need to monitor those things to be prepared. And secondly, we could make ourselves less dependable on fluctuations of price. If we processed all the oil we extract not only into kerosene or furnace oil but into petrochemistry, into products of deep refinement, then our GDP would be 1.5 to 2 times greater and, most importantly, we would be independent from price fluctuation.”
Russia may take advantage of the situationMoscow and Ankara plan to discuss construction of a new gas pipeline, they are currently analyzing options for the route. Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said that the new gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey to replace the failed South Stream project of Gazprom may run under the Black Sea to the European part of Turkey.The Russian oil and gas industry has been facing serious challenges in the last months. Russian President Vladimir Putin scrapped the South Stream construction on December 1, blaming the EU for allegedly being unconstructive and Bulgaria for bureaucracy. Meanwhile, oil prices took a sudden fall. Gennady Shmal, the president of the Union of Oil and Gas Industrialists of Russia, a member of the Council for Information and Cooperation of Enterprises of the Fuel and Energy Complex, still believes that Russia may take advantage of the situation in the mid or long-term developments.The expert expressed disappointment over the failure of South Stream because of the colossal work and time wasted to come to agreements with all the countries involved, projecting work done, $5 billion spent by Gazprom.According to Shmal, Bulgaria and the EU had been undermining the construction for a long time and clarity in this case is better than dragging the project out for years. A horrifying ending is better than endless horror.“The Bulgarians in 2009 changed their position many times: they permitted, then they forbade. Some governments resigned, new governments emerged. Some decision had to be made. But the problem is not in Bulgaria, it is that the European Union was a persistent opponent of the South Stream. They kept maneuvering, lobbying for the Nabucco gas pipeline, failing to understand that it had no resources. Azerbaijan still does not extract the necessary volumes, Turkmenistan sent its gas in the Chinese direction. So Nabucco was destined to fail,” Shmal assumes.“The proposal under discussion is gas supply through Turkey, it is similar to what some were talking about, about connecting Nabucco with South Stream. The decision voiced by our president is absolutely fair, correct and there can be no other variant at this stage,” Shmal supposes.The expert says that Russia should take advantage of the situation if it cannot control oil prices: “Each country pursues its own prosperity, tries to keep its market outlet. First of all, we certainly need to monitor those things to be prepared. And secondly, we could make ourselves less dependable on fluctuations of price. If we processed all the oil we extract not only into kerosene or furnace oil but into petrochemistry, into products of deep refinement, then our GDP would be 1.5 to 2 times greater and, most importantly, we would be independent from price fluctuatio
