The agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey to build a $1.4 billion pipeline to carry crude oil from Baku to Turkey's Mediterranean Coast shows Turkey's zest for a role in the supply of C.I.S. hydrocarbons to the West.
The 660 mile pipeline will carry as much as 800,000 b/d of crude oil from Azeri, Chirak, and Guneshli fields in the Caspian Sea through Iran and the autonomous republic of Nachichevan into Turkey (OGJ, Mar. 15, p. 32).
This route will enable use of the loading terminal operated by Turkish state company Botas on the Mediterranean, which can handle two 350,000 dwt and two 150,000 dwt tankers at the same time.
The agreement will allow Kazkhstan to join the project later, initially at Tengiz oil field. In the long term oil fields in western Siberia could export crude to western markets via Turkey.
GAS AMBITIONS
At a Mar. 9 conference in London, Botas Chairman and Chief Executive Mete Goknel outlined another ambitious project that would move natural gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to Europe via Turkey.
Turkmenistan has one of the largest gas reserves in the world, said Goknel, with about 450 tcf. Like fellow C.I.S. republics, Turkmenistan's gas production has declined. It fell from 3.1 tcf in 1988 to 2.3 tcf in 1992.
"There are 52 large capacity gas fields, each producing 70 MMcfd of natural gas, and various small fields are in production," Goknel said. "Only 280 bcf is used for indigenous consumption. The rest has been exported."
In Kazakhstan, Karachaganak field alone has reserves of more than 20 tcf, while 1992 production in the republic was 280 bcf.
FAVORED ROUTE
Botas studied three alternative routes to take gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to Europe. The most appropriate, Goknel said, goes first from the gas fields of Turkmenistan to Krasnovodsk on the Caspian Sea.
From Krasnovodsk, the pipeline would travel 170 miles across the Caspian Sea and 25 miles by land to Baku. It would then reach Turkey via Armenia and Nachichevan, following the Araks River Valley. From Turkey it would travel north via Malkoclar, through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Austria to join the European grid.
Pipeline length would be 3,000 miles. Botas calculated that two parallel 56 in. pipelines would be required, with 24 compressor stations maintaining a 75 bar pressure.
Total capacity would be 1.4 tcf/year, enabling the pipeline to transmit "...the amount of natural gas necessary to meet the supply deficiency of Europe and Turkey." Goknel estimated project cost at $15.3 billion.
Turkish Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel said the oil pipeline "will create a second Persian Gulf in Turkey." With Botas' ambitions as a channel for gas, it looks like Turkey is out to become the kingpin for C.I.S. exports.
Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
