{"id":1440727,"date":"2023-11-27T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1440727"},"modified":"2023-11-27T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T12:00:00","slug":"europe-is-getting-record-amounts-of-russian-gas-through-turkstream-so-who-keeps-trying-to-blow-it-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/europe-is-getting-record-amounts-of-russian-gas-through-turkstream-so-who-keeps-trying-to-blow-it-up\/1440727\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe Is Getting Record Amounts Of Russian Gas Through TurkStream. So Who Keeps Trying To Blow It Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Europe Is Getting Record Amounts Of Russian Gas Through TurkStream. So Who Keeps Trying To Blow It Up<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Conor Gallagher via NakedCapitalism.com,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The TurkStream pipeline, which brings natural gas from Russia to T\u00fcrkiye across the Black Sea and then into southeastern Europe,\u00a0 was controversial in certain quarters of the West ever since it was conceived.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now the flow of natural gas to Europe from Russia via T\u00fcrkiye is reaching all-time highs. TurkStream has a capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, roughly half of which stays in T\u00fcrkiye, and the rest continues on to the Balkans and Central Europe. Serbia and Hungary are the primary European consumers. According to\u00a0S&P Global<\/a>, supplies via TurkStream into Southeast Europe rose strongly in July, reaching a record monthly high.<\/p>\n

As the gas flowing through the pipeline increases so do the attempted attacks.\u00a0<\/strong>The Russian Defense Ministry\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0that three unmanned Ukrainian speedboats carried out an unsuccessful attack against the Russian warship guarding a portion of the pipeline in May. When that failed, Ukraine apparently doubled down and tried again with six high-speed drone boats in June. That attack was also thwarted by Russian forces.<\/p>\n

Ukraine Energy Minister German Galushchenko\u00a0declared<\/a>\u00a0in a recent interview with POLITICO that Ukraine fully aims to attack Russia\u2019s oil and gas infrastructure. The statements, while trying to show confidence, instead showed the increasing desperation of Ukraine and its Western backers in the face of the\u00a0Russian victory<\/a>\u00a0on the battlefield, as well as on the economic front.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure are nothing new. After all, if some Western media reports are to be believed, it was a small Ukrainian operation that took out the Nord Stream pipelines. But Galushchenko\u2019s comments are a pretty clear indicator that these types of attacks will be among Ukraine\u2019s last gasp tactics. From the POLITICO piece:<\/p>\n

When asked if Zelenskyy\u2019s \u201cresponse\u201d could include Ukraine targeting Russia\u2019s vast oil and gas operations \u2014 by far the biggest driver of its economy \u2014 Galushchenko replied, \u201cIt would only be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen answering [Russia\u2019s attack], we would answer by taking the same approach, attacking their energy infrastructure,\u201d Galushchenko said.<\/p>\n

Galushchenko stressed he was not a member of the Ukraine military and did not discuss the possible targeting of Russian energy operations with U.S. government officials. He is a member of the Ukraine national security and defense council.<\/p>\n

What of those US government officials? What do they think of this strategy? Do they condone the hitting of not just Russian infrastructure but also that of NATO member T\u00fcrkiye in the case of TurkStream?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Moscow\u00a0claimed<\/a>\u00a0that at the time of the unsuccessful Ukrainian attack in June, a US RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft was in that area of the Black Sea. Putin\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0at the October Valdai International Discussion Club meeting:<\/p>\n

We continue to supply gas to Europe through the TurkStream pipelines, and judging by everything, Ukrainian terrorist groups are plotting to do damage there as well. Our ships are guarding the pipelines that run along the bottom of the Black Sea, but they are constantly being attacked by unmanned vehicles, with English-speaking specialists and advisers clearly involved, among others, in planning those attacks. We have intercepted them on the radio: we always hear English speech wherever those unmanned semi-submersible boats are being prepared. This is an obvious fact for us \u2013 but draw your own conclusions.<\/p>\n

Russia also claimed in\u00a0September<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0October<\/a>\u00a0of 2022 that it foiled attacks on Turkstream, but such these are routinely dismissed in the West. The Moscow Times, a western news outlet based in Amsterdam,\u00a0believes<\/a>\u00a0Moscow is making such claims in order to lay the groundwork to blame Ukraine after Russia destroys its own pipelines \u2013 again.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not forget that after the destruction of the Nord Streams, former CIA director and\u00a0perjurer extraordinaire<\/a>\u00a0was predicting that Russia would soon start destroying more of its other pipelines:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Russia will attack other Russian pipelines soon” says John Brennan.<\/p>\n

Translation: The US will blow up Turkstream. https:\/\/t.co\/riSbbyhtg9<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rosie’s Indestructible Passport (@DarnelSugarfoo) October 3, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n

The Center for European Policy Analysis believes Russia saying it thwarts attacks on TurkStream is really a subtle threat,\u00a0writing<\/a>, \u201cThis is most likely a stratagem to manipulate Europe on the eve of winter by underlining that it can cut supplies at any moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

An analysis more tethered to reality is from Fatih Yurtsever, a former naval officer in the Turkish Armed Forces, who\u00a0believes<\/a>\u00a0that Russia is highlighting the foiled attacks in an attempt to bring T\u00fcrkiye closer to its side:<\/p>\n

Russia is trying to get T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s support against Ukraine by claiming that its ships are in T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s EEZ to protect the TurkStream pipeline. In fact, Russia\u2019s real intention is to create tension between T\u00fcrkiye and Ukraine. To this end, it is trying to convince T\u00fcrkiye that Ukraine will sabotage the TurkStream pipeline in the Turkish EEZ. Ukraine is not currently capable of sabotaging TurkStream, nor does it make sense for Ukraine to engage in such an act that would directly confront T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n

Russia is attempting to capitalize on recent events, such as the intelligence ship attack, in order to drive a wedge between T\u00fcrkiye and Ukraine while also seeking to align T\u00fcrkiye more closely with its own interests.<\/p>\n

NATO in the Black Sea?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Since the onset of the Ukraine war, Ankara has faced constant pressure to open the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to NATO warships. On Nov. 17, the commander of the Turkish navy\u00a0reiterated in a speech<\/a>\u00a0that T\u00fcrkiye does not want NATO in the Black Sea:<\/p>\n

As you know, NATO is trying to take some measures in the Black Sea. However, we declare that we will take these measures in the Black Sea ourselves and that we do not want NATO or America in the Black Sea. \u2026<\/p>\n

Our goal is for Montreux to be respected. We have provided security for everyone in the Black Sea. As T\u00fcrkiye, we provide security in the Black Sea. They [the US] should not turn the Black Sea into a Middle East. That is why we do not want any country or NATO to enter the Black Sea.<\/p>\n

Erdogan has so far resisted western pressure on the issue, but NATO might be gaining a toehold according to a Nov. 20 report in Bloomberg.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Citing anonymous officials, Bloomberg\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that NATO members Bulgaria, T\u00fcrkiye, and Romania are closing in on an agreement to create a joint mine-clearing force in the Black Sea. Bloomberg goes to pains to describe the potential effort as peaceful and non-NATO:<\/p>\n

The proposed plan would be peaceful in nature and focused on reducing the danger that errant mines pose to shipping routes through the Black Sea. It would not be considered a NATO effort. It would, however, be the first joint action of Black Sea allies since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.<\/p>\n

Sounds innocent enough. But western neocons are clearly thinking of using Romania and any mine-sweeping as a NATO Trojan Horse in the Black Sea.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The mine-sweeping plan sounds very familiar to a\u00a0recent piece at War on the Rocks<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Aaron Stein<\/a>, a Black Sea Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and former senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. The report is titled \u201cSide-Stepping T\u00fcrkiye: Using Minesweepers to Increase Allied Presence in the Black Sea\u201d and here\u2019s the central push:<\/p>\n

Minesweeping ships are purely defensive and therefore would not be as risky as providing Black Sea powers with warships for the armed escort civilian ships in the area. This should assuage Ankara and be a point of potential cooperation, rather than yet another point of friction between T\u00fcrkiye and its NATO allies. Once transferred and in Romania, these ships (and potentially clearance divers) could be used for a series of bilateral exercises between U.S. and European\u00a0forces deployed<\/a>\u00a0in country, in neighboring countries, or\u00a0flying over the Black Sea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These bilateral exercises can augment\u00a0NATO\u2019s minesweeping capabilities<\/a>\u00a0and are a way to conduct exercises with NATO members without needing T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s official sanction.\u00a0 The obvious benefits of bilateral exercises have tangential benefits for NATO more broadly and could help augment NATO\u2019s regional capabilities in the longer term. The data from these ships\u2019 sensors should be fused with the aerial surveillance intelligence NATO and its member states collect during daily flights over the Black Sea. This data could be used to enhance situational awareness about threats to international shipping and be an important mechanism for the allies to share information about Russian Black Sea military operations currently and long into the future.<\/p>\n

Romania has also discovered significant offshore gas reserves in the Black Sea, which it has begun to tap into. Neocons are stressing the fact that the Black Sea will have to be further militarized in order to protect these energy assets. From the\u00a0Atlantic Council<\/a>\u00a0back in July:<\/p>\n

In its\u00a0summit communiqu\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0this month, NATO acknowledged the Black Sea\u2019s\u00a0strategic value<\/a>\u00a0as well as Russia\u2019s potential use of hybrid tactics to undermine regional allies and\u00a0partners<\/a>. NATO, with US leadership, must maintain a credible deterrent to Moscow\u2019s actions in the Black Sea. At a minimum, the West must continue to support regional allies and partners by demonstrating solidarity against Russian aggression and promoting regional energy security through source diversification. This can only be accomplished through domestic energy production of both fossil fuels and renewables. More specifically, these actions need to be coupled with developing greater military operational capability through a combination of modern weapons acquisition and joint exercises. Romania has the potential to propel these efforts further with its Neptun Deep project; other NATO allies must follow suit by increasing their contributions to a credible deterrent.<\/p>\n

T\u00fcrkiye as Energy Hub<\/strong><\/h2>\n

T\u00fcrkiye has profited handsomely by refusing to go along with the West\u2019s self-defeating sanctions on Russia and continues to operate as a primary hub for sanctions evasion. This is making T\u00fcrkiye into a major regional fossil fuel hub as a crucial transfer point for energy to Europe. This arrangement allows Russia to continue (much reduced) exports to Europe and provides T\u00fcrkiye with transfer fees and cheap oil and gas for domestic use.\u00a0 Putin and Erdogan have often discussed expanding T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s role as an energy hub, and while\u00a0reports show<\/a>\u00a0disagreements remain, that also means Ankara and Moscow are continuing to iron out the details while working towards an agreement.<\/p>\n

It also\u00a0enrages<\/a>\u00a0the neocons. I think that Washington\u2019s position can accurately be summed up by the following pieces. One is from the Atlantic Council:\u00a0\u201cT\u00fcrkiye can become an energy hub\u2014but not by going all-in on Russian gas.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The thinly-veiled threat concludes with the following:<\/p>\n

Exploring phantom opportunities of energy cooperation with Russia at the expense of real risks of getting exposed to US and EU sanctions will not transform T\u00fcrkiye into an energy hub. Quite the opposite, it would spell the end of this dream.<\/p>\n

The other is Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute who\u00a0writes<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cBiden should kill TurkStream to promote transatlantic energy security.\u201d And the transatlantic part of that energy security is of course the ultimate goal for Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth remembering that TurkStream came about after the US and EU\u00a0effectively killed<\/a>\u00a0the Russia-Bulgaria South Stream pipeline back in 2014. The project would have transported Russian gas under the Black Sea, making landfall in Bulgaria and then passing through Serbia and Hungary into Austria.<\/p>\n

Instead Russia pivoted to T\u00fcrkiye and opened TurkStream at the beginning of 2020 despite US sanctions on companies involved in the construction of the pipeline.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Additionally the US helped kill the EastMed Pipeline which would have brought natural gas from deposits off Israel and Egypt to Greece and elsewhere in Europe via Cyprus. US Undersecretary of State Victoria \u201cF*** the EU<\/a>\u201d Nuland\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0at the time that it would take too long and the solution instead was increased LNG shipments to Europe.<\/p>\n

Greece and countries in the Balkans that currently receive gas through TurkStream are\u00a0increasingly<\/a>\u00a0building<\/a>\u00a0up their LNG import capacity. For example, Greece\u2019s biggest gas utility recently\u00a0completed a deal<\/a>\u00a0with Total Energies for LNG deliveries in the event gas flows from TurkStream are curbed or halted. And Greece received\u00a0record LNG imports<\/a>\u00a0in 2022\u00a0allowing it to export more gas<\/a>\u00a0north to southeastern Europe.<\/p>\n

Bulgaria Clogs the TurkStream Pipe<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While the attempted attacks on the pipeline continue, the West\u2019s preferred method to thwart gas deliveries through TurkStream appears to be using Bulgaria. The political drama swirling around TurkStream in Sofia and the potential loss of Russian oil and what that would mean for the Bulgarian economy has the government on the verge of collapse.<\/p>\n

In October, Bulgaria added an extra tax of 10.20 euros per megawatt hour on Russian natural gas transferred through the Turkstream pipeline. This move angered Serbia and Hungary \u2013 probably the only two European countries that remain on friendly terms with Moscow. Hungary Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto described the move as another attempt to make Hungarian-Russian energy cooperation impossible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is unacceptable. For one EU member state to jeopardize the gas supply of another EU member state is quite simply against European solidarity, against European rules,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> he\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the end of October, the EU Commission announced that Bulgaria has every right to introduce the tax on Russian gas. Hungary has since\u00a0asked<\/a>\u00a0the European Commission to open a legal procedure against Bulgaria over the tax, but the response has been crickets.<\/p>\n

Sofia is moving forward with the tax plan despite knowing that Russia will not pay it. From\u00a0Euractiv:<\/a><\/p>\n

The authorities in Sofia have guaranteed that the money will be sought by Gazprom and not by the Russian gas monopoly\u2019s European customers.<\/p>\n

Bulgaria expected revenue from the new fee to be paid by mid-November, but the country has not yet been able to collect money from a Russian company\u2026So far, there has been no reaction from Gazprom regarding the introduced energy contribution, and it is not clear whether the Russian concern intends to pay it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not hard to see how the situation could escalate from here. More:<\/p>\n

Bulgarian Finance Minister Asen Vassilev has already said that if the Russian gas monopolist refuses to pay, the seizure of its financial collateral under contracts in Bulgaria or assets in the country will occur.<\/p>\n

The move to jack up the price for Serbia and Hungary came after the Sofia City Prosecution\u00a0launched investigations<\/a>\u00a0at the end of August into alleged corruption in the building of the Bulgarian portion of theTurkStream pipeline.<\/p>\n

The probe is based on information revealed by the\u00a0Anti-Corruption Fund<\/a>\u00a0NGO that allegedly shows that a secret meeting was held in T\u00fcrkiye between Bulgarian, sanctioned Russians and UAE representatives to discuss specific actions and a timeframe for speeding up the construction of the gas pipeline.<\/p>\n

The Anti-Corruption Fund NGO is funded by an US-outfit called the\u00a0America for Bulgaria Foundation<\/a>. Its\u00a0board of directors<\/a>\u00a0has the usual experience \u2013 from Silicon Valley and global finance backgrounds, to US neocon think tanks and long careers at the US Department of State.<\/p>\n

On the Russian oil front, Bulgaria now plans to\u00a0scrap<\/a>\u00a0its exemption to EU sanctions against Russia six months earlier than planned. Despite that decision to move up the date to March 1, 2024, two of the three parties of the ruling coalition are still arguing it\u2019s not enough. They want Russian oil stopped immediately, and they are accusing the pro-Western government of Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov of being pro-Russia (Denkov\u2019s government maintains that cutting Russian oil right now could lead to Bulgaria not having enough fuel for the winter).<\/p>\n

On top of the gas tax and scramble to halt Russian oil imports, the government is also planning to ban the export of petroleum products produced from Russian oil at a major Lukoil refinery in the country. The refinery\u2019s management is\u00a0threatening<\/a>\u00a0to shut down all operations if supplies from Russia are cut off too quickly, which would cost the jobs of thousands of people in the Black Sea region of Burgas.<\/p>\n

While the energy politics have the government teetering on the brink of collapse, relations with Russia, Serbia and Hungary continue to sour.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n recently\u00a0reminded Tucker Carlson<\/a>\u00a0of his country\u2019s position on TurkStream. From\u00a0B92:<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBudapest has made it clear right away that there is another pipeline \u2013 not Nord Stream, but South Stream, through which gas is supplied from Russia along the southern corridor to T\u00fcrkiye, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary. Together with the Prime Minister of Serbia, we emphasized that if anyone wants to do the same thing with the southern corridor as was done with the northern one, we will consider it a reason for war, a terrorist attack, and we will respond immediately,\u201d said the Hungarian Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

Orban called for abandoning such plans, without revealing exactly to whom his warning was directed, specifying that it is not about the Russian Federation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you can do that with the Germans, but you can\u2019t do that with this region,\u201d he firmly stated.<\/p>\n

It looks increasingly likely that Orb\u00e1n\u2019s words will be put to the test.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nMon, 11\/27\/2023 – 02:00<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/europe-getting-record-amounts-russian-gas-through-turkstream-so-who-keeps-trying-blow<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Europe Is Getting Record Amounts Of Russian Gas Through TurkStream. So Who Keeps Trying To Blow It Up Authored by Conor Gallagher via NakedCapitalism.com, The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1440727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1440727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1440727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1440727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1440727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}