On March 11, 2014, the Blue Stream gas pipeline supplied its 100th billion cubic meter of Russian natural gas to Turkey, press center of Gazprom states.
In 2013 gas supplies via Blue Stream had stood at 13.7 billion cubic meters of gas accounting for over a half of the total gas volume (26.7 billion cubic meters) exported by Gazprom to Turkey in 2013.
The 1,213-kilometer Blue Stream gas pipeline with the annual capacity of 16 billion cubic meters of gas was commissioned in December 2002 in order to directly supply gas to Turkey across the Black Sea. Blue Stream supplements the existing gas transmission corridor running from Russia to Turkey via Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania and Bulgaria. It gives an additional impetus to the Turkish gas market development.
Blue Stream is a unique gas transmission facility. It is currently the deepest gas pipeline for Russian natural gas export. The pipeline lies at a depth of up to 2,150 meters on the seabed in an aggressive hydrogen sulfide environment of the Black Sea.
Turkey is Gazprom's second largest sales market in Europe behind Germany. Russian gas is exported to Turkey via Blue Stream under a contract between Gazprom and Turkish Botas, according to which 365 billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied to the country during 25 years. By now, Blue Stream is fully loaded and conveys 48.1 million cubic meters of gas every day.