Russia is studying variants for lowering the costs of the South Stream gas pipeline project, including an alternate way of transporting Russian gas to Europe in the form of liquefied gas, Russian Vice-Premier Igor Sechin said on Thursday, RIA Novosti reports.
Turkey was expected to permit pipeline construction through the Black Sea to Southern and Central Europe by October 31, 2010. A plant for liquefying gas may be constructed in Russia’s north using gas from Yamal. Russia has not received any documents from its Turkish partners yet.
The Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Vladimir Ivanovsky, said that Turkey had additional questions about the preparation of a feasibility study for the maritime part of the gas pipeline. Russia does not understand why the Turkish authorities have not given permission for construction, Sechin said on Wednesday.
The South Stream project is intended to diversify export routes for Russian gas. The project involves construction of 900 km of pipeline under the Black Sea, through Turkey’s economic zone, from the port of Russkaya on the Russian coast to the coast of Bulgaria. The maritime section of the South Stream pipeline will transport up to 63 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
