The Tabriz–Ankara pipeline is a long natural gas pipeline, which runs from
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
in north-west
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
to
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
History
The construction of pipeline started in 1996 after signing a gas deal between Turkish and Iranian governments. The gas deal was signed on 30 August 1996. The pipeline was commissioned in July 2001.
The Iran-Turkey pipeline has allegedly been blown up several times by
PKK
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...
fighters.
In January 2008 gas supplies were stopped because of cut-off gas supplies from
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
.
The supply was cut off again in February 2008 because of bad weather conditions.
Technical features
The Turkish section, operated by
BOTAŞ
BOTAŞ Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) is the state-owned crude oil and natural gas pipelines and trading company in Turkey. The company was established in 1974 as a subsidiary of TPAO. Since 1995, BOTAS is a wholly state-owned company. ...
, cost US$600 million. The pipeline capacity is 14 bcm per year: Turkish normally imports about 11 billion cubic meters of gas a year through the pipeline.
[ Just before Ankara it is linked to Blue Stream.
]
Contracts
Negotiations are in progress to renew the current 25 year contract, for nearly 10 bcm per year, which expires end-2025 according to the ''Middle East Economic Survey
{{Infobox company
, name = MEES
, type = Private (Ltd)
, foundation = Beirut, Lebanon (1957)
, location = Nicosia, Cyprus
, industry = Publishing, energy news, Middle East analysis
, homepage www.mees.com}
ME ...
'' (or end-July 2026 according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies is an energy research institution which was founded in 1982, and serves a worldwide audience with its research, guides understanding of all major energy issues. It is a recognised independent centre of the ...
See also
* Iran-Turkey relations
External links
Tabriz–Ankara pipeline
on Global Energy Monitor
Global Energy Monitor (GEM) is a San Francisco-based non-governmental organization which catalogs fossil fuel and renewable energy projects worldwide. GEM shares information in support of clean energy and its data and reports on energy trends ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabriz Ankara Pipeline
Energy infrastructure completed in 2001
Iran–Turkey relations
Natural gas pipelines in Iran
Natural gas pipelines in Turkey