page_title: Blue Stream
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Blue Stream / History
caption_attribution_description: Russian president Vladimir Putin and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the opening of the Blue Stream Gas Pipeline
context_page_description: Blue Stream is a major trans-Black Sea gas pipeline that carries natural gas from Russia into Turkey. The pipeline has been constructed by the Blue Stream Pipeline B.V., the Netherlands based joint venture of Russian Gazprom and Italian Eni. The Blue Stream Pipeline B.V. is an owner of the subsea section of pipeline, including Beregovaya compressor station, while Gazprom owns and operates the Russian land section of the pipeline and the Turkish land section is owned and operated by the Turkish energy company BOTAŞ. According to Gazprom the pipeline was built with the intent of diversifying Russian gas delivery routes to Turkey and avoiding third countries.
context_section_description: Preparations of the pipeline project started in 1997. On 15 December 1997, Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on construction of the subsea pipeline. At the same time, Gazprom and BOTAŞ signed a 25-year gas sale contract. In February 1999, Gazprom and Eni signed the Memorandum of Understanding to implement the Blue Stream project. Blue Stream Pipeline B.V., a joint venture of Gazprom and Eni was registered in the Netherlands on 16 November 1999. On 23 November 1999, contracts on designing, equipment supply and the offshore section construction were signed with Saipem, Bouygues Offshore S.A., Katran K companies and the consortium of Mitsui, Sumitomo and Itochu.
  The construction of the Russian land section took place in 2001-2002 and the offshore section in 2001-2002. The offshore section of the pipeline was built by Italian constructor Saipem and the Russian onshore section by Stroytransgaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom.  The offshore pipe was laid by the pipe-laying vessel Saipem 7000. Gas flows from Russia to Turkey started in February 2003. However, because of the price dispute between Russia and Turkey, the official inauguration ceremony at the Durusu gas metering station took place only on 17 November 2005.  Attending the inauguration were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
caption: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi at the opening of the Blue Stream gas pipeline in November 2005
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