ISTANBUL: Turkey could propose to Russia building an LNG terminal in an energy complex on its border with Greece, as part of talks on planned new gas pipeline with its northern neighbour, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said.
Last week Russia scrapped the South Stream pipeline project to supply gas to southern Europe without crossing Ukraine, citing EU objections, and instead named Turkey as its preferred partner for an alternative pipeline.
Calling the new pipeline plan “Turkish Stream”, a nod to the scrapped South Stream, Yildiz said Turkey would study the new pipeline plan with Russia.
“We can do this project but it will not be a transit project,” Yildiz told the Bosphorus energy club meeting in Istanbul. “We have proposals on this and perhaps including an LNG terminal, the construction of an integrated energy complex could be on the table,” he said.
He said that if the planned pipeline was built, it would not necessarily mean that Turkey would buy more gas. Separately, Yildiz told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting that Turkish oil refiner Tupras had begun buying shipments of Iraqi crude oil.
Last month the government of Iraq and the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan reached a deal on oil exports. Reuters
