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Blue Stream

Trans-Black Sea gas pipeline

Blue Stream is a major trans-Black Sea gas pipeline that carries natural gas to Turkey from Russia. The pipeline was constructed in 2001–02 by the Blue Stream Pipeline B.V., the Netherlands based joint venture of Russian Gazprom and Italian Eni, and began operation in 2003. The Blue Stream Pipeline B.V. is an owner of the subsea section of pipeline, including Beregovaya compressor station, while Gazprom owns and operates the Russian land section of the pipeline and the Turkish land section is owned and operated by the Turkish energy company BOTAŞ.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

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Bluestream
Photo: Samuel Bailey (sam.bailus@gmail.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

Blue Stream is a major trans-Black Sea gas pipeline that carries natural gas to Turkey from Russia. The pipeline was constructed in 2001–02 by the Blue Stream Pipeline B.V., the Netherlands based joint venture of Russian Gazprom and Italian Eni, and began operation in 2003. The Blue Stream Pipeline B.V. is an owner of the subsea section of pipeline, including Beregovaya compressor station, while Gazprom owns and operates the Russian land section of the pipeline and the Turkish land section is owned and operated by the Turkish energy company BOTAŞ. According to Gazprom the pipeline was built with the intent of diversifying Russian gas delivery routes to Turkey and avoiding third countries.2

The story

Preparations of the pipeline project started in 1997. In 1997, Gazprom and BOTAŞ signed a 25-year gas sale contract. One of the political goals of the Blue Stream project was to block the path of rival countries aiming to use the territory of Turkey to bring gas from the Caspian area to Europe.

The construction of the Russian land section took place in 2001–2002 and the offshore section in 2001–2002. The offshore section of the pipeline was built by Italian constructor Saipem and the Russian onshore section by Stroytransgaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom. The offshore pipe was laid by the pipe-laying vessel Saipem 7000. Gas flows from Russia to Turkey started in February 2003. However, because of the price dispute between Russia and Turkey, the official inauguration ceremony at the Durusu gas metering station took place only on 17 November 2005. Attending the inauguration were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

From Wikipedia’s article on Blue Stream, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

Gas from Blue Stream started to flow in February 2003, and the pipeline delivered 1.3 bcm to BOTAŞ in 2003. Gas flows have progressively increased towards the pipeline's capacity of 16 bcm per year. From 2010 to 2014, supplies averaged 14.1 bcm per year, with a high point of 14.7 bcm in 2012.

From Wikipedia’s article on Blue Stream, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Sources

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