FOUNDATION STONE LAYING CEREMONY OF SAMSUN-CEYHAN OIL PIPE TO BE HELD, GULER
A ceremony of laying a foundation stone of the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline will be held April 24, Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Hilmi Guler said.
The Minister said the Turkish port of Ceyhan is one of the world’s major energy centers.
But some energy analysts and experts in Turkey and other countries don’t share the Turkish Minister’s optimistic viewpoint.
Necdet Pamir, an energy analyst at the Center for Eurasian Strategic Studies, called the pipeline, which will deliver Kazakh and Russian oil to European markets, a risky project.
Mr. Pamir said Russia wants to export its oil via the Burgas-Aleksandropulos pipeline, and that Kazakhstan will also transport part of its oil via the Burgas-Aleksandropulos, whilst the second part via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
A Russian diplomat in Ankara also echoed Necdet Pamir’s opinion saying Moscow has not changed its stance on the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline project.
“No one wants to hear about this pipeline in Moscow. If it weren’t for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, we might positively speak of the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline”, the Russian diplomat said.
