A possible abortion of the Turkish Stream natural gas project could cost Russia's gas giant Gazprom more than $2 billion, John Roberts, a senior fellow at Atlantic Council said Monday.
Turkish officials said that one pipeline of the project has been approved to bring gas to Turkey; while an agreement for the remaining construction is still pending on approval from the EU.
The project, which was initially proposed as a four-lined pipeline for 63 billion cubic meters, is planned to halve its capacity to 32 billion cubic meters of natural gas through two pipelines.
'It can cost Russia $2 to $3 billion, possibly a lot more,' Roberts said on the sidelines of Black Sea Offshore Conference, adding that it could damage the company's reputation should it not go ahead.
'If they abort it, then they will have lost at least 1.2 billion euros on the contract for the pipeline,' the expert said as the company has already received the required pipes for the first phase and has given orders for the second.
Roberts also said it would make more sense to build two pipelines rather than four as the latter one would require Russia to engage in further construction through Europe.
Roberts explained that $5-6 billion is needed to build a pipeline to Italy, and if it is extended to the hub of Baumgarten in Austria, it would require a further $9-$10 billion.
Bilateral relations between Turkey and Russia have been tense following Russia's operations in Syria and peaked when Russian jets violated Turkish air space in mid-October.
These recent developments may have consequences on the Turkish Stream's future if the two sides do not reach political consensus, according to Roberts.
By Furkan Naci Top
Anadolu Agency
furkan.top@aa.com.tr