Turkey’s Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (Botas) and Greece’s Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allowing for Turkey to export 500 million cubic tons of natural gas to Greece by 2005, reported Hurriyet. Under the contract, 200 kilometers out of the 285-kilometer pipeline will be located on Turkish soil.
Earlier this month, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit suggested the unification of Turkish and Greek gas pipelines, as part of a wider plan to transport Caucasian and Central Asian natural gas to markets within the European Union (EU), Anadolu Agency reported. The scheme is referred to as the Southern Europe Gas Ring.
Botas was established by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in 1974 in order to transport Iraqi crude oil to the Gulf of Ýskenderun. In 1995, Botas was restructured as a State Economic Enterprise (SEE) and is no longer an affiliate company of the TPAO. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
