site.btaLaying of Subsea Pipes for South Stream Gas Project to Begin in November
Laying of Subsea Pipes
for South Stream Gas Project
to Begin in November
Schwenningen, Germany, September 26 (BTA special correspondent
Boris Hamalski) - The laying of pipes on the bottom of the Black
Sea for the South Stream gas pipeline project will begin in
November, Jasper Jansen, Spokesman for the Netherlands-based
South Stream Transport company, told journalists on Friday.
All necessary preparations have been made and the pipes will
begin to be laid from the Russian shore, Jansen said, adding
that a ship has been hired for the purpose. According to Michael
Sasse, Head of Corporate Communication for the German oil and
gas company Wintershall, the off-shore part of South Stream will
be built despite the legal issues about the project, because it
will go through international waters.
Sasse expressed his conviction that the problem concerning the
on-shore section will be solved in the meantime.
All four pipes on the bottom of the Black Sea are to be built
until 2017, said Wintershall's Frank Rau.
Asked by BTA whether a delay of the project for political or
other reasons will increase its cost, Sasse said all expenses
are currently within the budget limits and will hopefully remain
so.
The off-shore section of the South Stream gas pipeline, which
will carry Russian gas to Western Europe, will be 930 km in
length and the pipes will be laid at a depth of 2,200 metres.
The facility will transport 63 billion cubic metres of gas
annually, Rau said.
As with the Nord Stream project, the shareholders in South
Stream are European companies, with Russia's Gazprom holding a
50 per cent stake, Italy's Eni 20 per cent, France's EDF 15 per
cent and Germany's Wintershall 15 per cent. The price of South
Stream is estimated at 10 billion euro. PK/VE
news.modal.header
news.modal.text