Russian gas supplies via TurkStream pipeline reach all-time peak

Russian gas supplies via TurkStream gas pipeline to Europe have reached a historic high, according to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG).

In January, they increased by 26.7 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

From January 1 to January 31, gas exports through the Strandzha-2-Malkoclar point on the Bulgarian-Turkish border amounted to 1.56 billion cubic meters (50.3 million cubic meters per day). The previous maximum was reached in December 2024: then, Russian gas exports via the Turkish corridor amounted to almost 1.53 billion cubic meters (49.35 million cubic meters per day).

On December 31, 2024, the agreement on Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine expired. Kyiv refused to extend the agreement even for purchases by third countries. Now the only source of Russian pipeline gas for Europe is the Balkan Stream, which receives fuel from the Turkish Stream. Every year, it carries approximately 14-15 billion cubic meters of gas to Romania, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hungary.

To note, for five years, the TurkStream Natural Gas Pipeline has transported a total of 104.1 billion cubic meters of gas, delivering Russian natural gas reserves to Türkiye and onward to Europe.  The pipeline was officially inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 8, 2020.

The first line of TurkStream, which has a total gas transit capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters, 15.75 billion cubic meters on each of its two lines, provides gas flow to Türkiye. Gas is transferred to Europe via the 142-kilometer, 48-inch second line, which extends from Kiyikoy to Bulgaria, built by TurkStream Gas Transportation Co., an equal partnership between BOTAŞ and Gazprom.

By Khagan Isayev