Eurasia Press & News
Turkey, Italy and Russia are set to sign a MoU on Samsun-Ceyhan petroleum pipeline.
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız arrived Monday in Milano where he will be signing the MoU on behalf of Turkey.
Yıldız was welcomed by Italian Economy Minister Claudio Scajola and Russian Deputy Premier Igor Ivanovich Sechin.
The 550-km long (340 miles) pipeline is expected to cost $1.5 billion and will ship an initial 1 million barrels per day between Black Sea oil terminal in Samsun and Mediterranean oil terminal in Ceyhan, Turkey, with plans to raise the capacity to 1.5 million bpd.
The project, which will be carried out by the Trans Anatolian Pipeline Company (Tapco), was envisioned to reduce increasing traffic on the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles Straits in Istanbul and to provide an alternative route for Russian and Kazakhstan;s oil.
Italian energy company Eni and Turkish company Çalık Energy each hold 50 percent shares of Tapco.
