Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] said Monday it would increase supplies to Turkey via the Blue Stream pipeline across the Black Sea from 20 million to 30 million cubic meters of gas a day over the explosion.
"The [Turkish state-run energy] company Botas submitted an application today for 24 million cubic meters [of gas], which is 4 million cubic meters more than the average daily volume," Gazprom said in a statement.
Russia launched gas supplies to Turkey 20 years ago, and today the country is the third largest importer of Russian gas. In 2006, it imported 19.9 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas.
Blue Stream, whose total length is 1,213 kilometers (754 miles), carries gas directly from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea bed. By 2010, the pipeline is expected to reach full capacity, pumping 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
