The Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning of Turkey has approved the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report and issued a positive opinion of the EIA results for South Stream gas pipeline project's offshore section in Turkey. South Stream's offshore section will run at a distance of over 110 km offshore Turkey. The first string of the offshore gas pipeline in Russia's territorial waters will be laid starting from late 2014. The first pipelaying vessel will enter the Turkish exclusive economic zone in the first quarter of 2015. The first offshore pipeline will be commissioned by late 2015.
South Stream is Gazprom's global infrastructure project aimed at constructing a gas pipeline with a capacity of 63 bcm/year across the Black Sea to Southern and Central Europe for the purpose of diversifying the natural gas export routes and eliminating transit risks. At present the gas pipeline construction is underway in Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia. First gas via South Stream will be supplied to European consumers in late 2015. The gas pipeline will reach its full capacity in 2018. South Stream's offshore section is constructed by South Stream Transport, a joint project company with Gazprom holding a 50%, Eni (20%), Wintershall and EDF (15% each).
Source: Gazprom