MOSCOW, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Supplies of Russian gas via the undersea Blue Stream gas pipeline to Turkey reached a record high of 15.98 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2021, Gazprom Export said on Friday, citing rising demand.
Russian gas exports https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/what-are-europes-options-case-russian-gas-disruption-2022-01-27 have been in the spotlight during Moscow's standoff with the West over Ukraine, with Kyev seeking membership of NATO while Russia has amassed troops near the border with Ukraine.
The West has threatened Russia with sanctions https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-seeks-protect-europes-energy-supplies-if-russia-invades-ukraine-2022-01-25 if it invades Ukraine. Russia, meanwhile, denies that it has plans to invade.
Ties between Russia and Turkey, one of Moscow's biggest consumers of natural gas, have been patchy in recent years. Though relations have been beset by issues including conflicts in Syria and Libya, Russia and Turkey still enjoy relatively close political and economic cooperation.
The Blue Stream pipeline, launched in the early 2000s under the Black Sea, is Russia's first pipeline directly connecting its gas fields with a major gas-consuming country.
Gas consumption in Turkey rose to a record high of 61 bcm in 2021, Gazprom Export said.
Russia also intends to supply gas directly to Germany via the Nord Stream 2 https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nord-stream-2-registers-german-subsidiary-certification-still-suspended-2022-01-26 pipeline below the Baltic Sea. That pipeline remains idle ahead of the required regulatory clearance from Berlin and Brussels. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Oksana Kobzeva Editing by David Goodman)
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