Turkey approves environmental assessment for South Stream

OAO Gazprom reported that Turkey has approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the South Stream gas pipeline in the Black Sea.

The first pipelaying vessel is slated to enter the Turkish exclusive economic zone in first-quarter 2015. The pipeline’s offshore section will have four strings, each more than 930 km long.

South Stream is designed to extend offshore Turkey some 110 km at a depth reaching 2,200 m.

The EIA, approved by the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, includes potential impact on the seabed geology, water quality, and marine ecology, the company said.

“The document concludes that the project will have no considerable effect on the Black Sea environment or the regional fishing industry,” Gazprom said. It noted that the designed pipeline route “bypasses certain locations of shipwrecks.”

South Stream pipeline construction is under way in Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia (OGJ Online, July 9, 2014). Gas will be shipped to Europe starting in late 2015, Gazprom said.