Guler, Miller talk Blue Stream

ANKARA, Turkey, March 27 (UPI) -- A second leg of the Blue Stream natural gas pipeline to transport resources to Israel was included in talks to increase Russian gas transits for Turkey.

The announcement came during a meeting of Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler and Alexei Miller, chief executive of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, in Ankara, Turkey's World Bulletin reports.

Officials expect the 754-mile Blue Stream at full capacity to transport 565 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year by 2010.

Russia and Turkey in 2005 proposed a second leg of the route following European moves to develop plans for the Nabucco gas pipeline from Central Asian and Middle Eastern suppliers.

Miller said that, as Turkey is the second-largest customer for Gazprom, the company was prepared to transport additional gas to the country.

Turkey serves as a major regional energy hub, hosting portions of the second-longest oil pipeline in the world, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan. It may also host Nabucco, which Europe eyes as a major route to bypass Russia.