A new era of economic cooperation began between Greece and Turkey with the inauguration of a gas pipeline to the Caspian Sea on November 18, 2007.
In November 18, 2007, the Prime Ministers of Turkey and Greece unveiled a gas pipeline into the Caspian Sea acknowledged as a mark of a new phase of the economic cooperation among the two provincial opponents, according to news published by TheAssociatedPress.
The pipeline introduced in 2005, extending 300 Km, carries natural gas from Azerbaijan to Greece needs to be expanded to Italy and the remaining Western Europe, notifying the projects strategic significance, the cost of which is expected to be four billion Euros ($5.9 Billion).
The annual capacity of the pipeline is 11.5 Billion Cubic Meter, however, some experts disbelieve that Azerbaijan has got the capacity to sustain supply of this kind at present. The channel runs undersea from Karacabey to the border of Greek-Turkey in addition to Komotini that is a Greek township, where it connects with the central network of Greece's natural gas pipelines.
The US Energy Secretary, Samuel W Bodman, who attended the inauguration ceremony, stated that a significant new energy conduit was built by the initial link amid Azerbaijan and the gas suppliers within central Asia to the European consumers, between the West and the East, according to news published by ebusiness.
As per Eurostat, at present, Russia contributes one-third of the crude oil consumption and one-fourth of the natural gas use by Europe, with Western officials even more apprehensive about the Moscow's probable energy use for political scuffle. However, the pipeline offers a diversification for suppliers and customers with the expansion of the market, who will altogether stand to gain from the consequential competition.
The demand for fuel is also rising gradually in the EU on account of the growing auto sector and the industries. Consequently, the plan for gas pipeline is also anticipated to propel the supply of fuel in the European region.
A Senior Research Analyst at RNCOS says, “European Union stands as the world's largest market for gas imports and is among the world's fastest developing gas market. It is justifiable to anticipate the reliance of Europe over the energy imports to continue to increase in future. The pipeline mission will thus also assist in developing the individual relationships of Turkey and Greece which were till now not in good terms”.
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