Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and his Russian counterpart Victor Chernomyrdin sealed a $13,500 million, 25-year, so-called 'Blue Stream' agreement on 15 December for a large increase in Russian natural gas imports. The gas will mostly be imported via a 1,210-kilometre-long pipeline to be built under the Black Sea, which may eventually be extended to Israel.

The gas import agreement sealed in Ankara during a two-day visit by Chernomyrdin was negotiated between state pipeline and gas agency Botas and its Russian counterpart Gazprom last April (MEED 9:5:97). It includes the import of an additional 3,000 million cubic metres of gas a year through the Black Sea pipeline on its completion in 2000, with its throughput rising to 16,000 million cubic metres by 2010.

The rapid increase in Russian gas supplies through the pipeline and existing routes from about 7,000 million cubic metres at present is expected to meet half of Turkey's total annual demand for imported natural gas of about 60,000 million cubic metres by 2010. However, the US has criticised Blue Stream as allegedly making Turkey too dependent for its energy requirements on Russian gas. Other gas import sources contracted or planned include Algeria, Iran, Turkmenistan, Nigeria, Qatar, Egypt and Yemen.