MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - Turkey's president Thursday praised the Blue Stream underwater gas pipeline and said his country was looking to a new gas project with Russia to link Turkey's Black Sea coast to the Mediterranean.
Ahmet Sezer said following a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that the Blue Stream pipeline, built across the floor of the Black Sea, had raised cooperation in the gas sector to a new level.
In 2005, Blue Stream, the largest Russian-Turkish energy project launched last fall, pumped 5 billion cu m of gas to Turkey, whereas by 2010 it is expected to carry 16 bln cu m annually.
Most of a total of 18 bln cu m of Russian natural gas supplied to Turkey today comes via Ukraine. But Turkey could soon emerge as another major transit country for Russian gas.
Sezer said Turkey was looking at a Samsum-Ceyhan gas pipeline, which is expected to pump gas further to Israel and Lebanon and possibly to Greece and Italy.
