Tabriz–Ankara pipeline


The Tabriz–Ankara pipeline is a long natural gas pipeline, which runs from Tabriz in North-West Iran to Ankara in Turkey.

History

The construction of pipeline started in 1996 after signing a gas deal between Turkish and Iranian governments. The gas deal was signed on 30 August 1996. The pipeline was commissioned on 26 July 2001.
The Iran-Turkey pipeline has allegedly been blown up several times by PKK fighters.
On 1 January 2008, Iran reduced gas supplies to Turkey, and on 7 January 2008 gas supplies were stopped because of cut-off gas supplies from Turkmenistan. The supplies were restored on 27 January 2008. The supply was cut off again in February 2008 because of bad weather conditions.

Technical features

The Turkish section, operated by BOTAŞ, cost US$600 million. The Turkish annual import consists normally 11 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
In Erzurum, the South Caucasus Pipeline is linked to the Iran-Turkey pipeline.