OREANDA-NEWS.   Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee took part today in the South Stream Transport Supervisory Board of Directors meeting in Amsterdam.

It was pointed out at the meeting that South Stream's offshore project was running on schedule. By now, South Stream Transport has concluded all the contracts required for the offshore gas pipeline to enter the construction stage in autumn 2014. In particular, the company placed orders for the procurement of over 150 thousand pipes for the first two strings of South Stream's offshore section and signed contracts for their laying. An agreement was signed for supplying the process and control equipment for the offshore gas pipeline as well as an agreement for its certification. A contract for delivering gas metering equipment for the Russian and Bulgarian landfall sections is also in place.

“The progress with the offshore gas pipeline section is the evidence of successful efforts made by the European and Russian stakeholders. Moreover, I am sure that South Stream will also promote cooperation on a larger scale, as the gas pipeline will yield mutual benefit and secure the reliability of energy supply to Bulgaria and Europe as a whole,” said Henning Voscherau, Chairman of the South Stream Transport Supervisory Board of Directors.

Background

South Stream is Gazprom's global infrastructure project aimed at constructing a gas pipeline with a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters across the Black Sea to Southern and Central Europe for the purpose of diversifying the natural gas export routes and eliminating transit risks. At present, the gas pipeline construction is underway in Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia. First gas will be delivered to European consumers in late 2015. The gas pipeline will reach its full capacity in 2018.
The pipeline's offshore section will comprise four strings, over 930 kilometer long each, laid under the Black Sea within a single routing at the depth of more than 2,200 meters. South Stream's offshore section is constructed by South Stream Transport, a joint project company with Gazprom holding a 50 per cent share, Italian Eni – 20 per cent, German Wintershall and French EDF – 15 per cent each.