Environment

A safe track record

Technology has developed significantly since the first-ever underwater gas pipeline was built in the 1950s and offshore pipelines are now one of the safest and most efficient ways of transporting hydrocarbons such as natural gas. To date, there have been no major incidents involving offshore gas pipelines.

Environmental Impact Assessments

We have made significant investments in surveys and environmental and social studies to facilitate safe and optimum pipeline design. Part of this process has been carrying out national Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for both Russia and Turkey.

Working with international specialists on both sea and land, the EIA process helped us learn more about the potential impacts of the Project on the environment and the local community. Accordingly, we were able to develop strategies based on these assessments to enhance the Project’s positive impact and to reduce any potential adverse effects.

An EIA had been completed and approved for the Russian section of the project as part of the South Stream Offshore Gas Pipeline. An EIA was also prepared for the Turkish section and approved by the relevant official authorities.

We continue to adopt the necessary mitigation and management measures to enhance benefits and reduce adverse effects in the light of both these EIA reports and the outcomes of the environmental and social monitoring works.

Finding the Best Route

Protecting the Black Sea’s Cultural Heritage

Thousands of kilometres of offshore surveys have been performed to find the most suitable path to lay the pipeline across the Black Sea. After assessing different options, a route from Russia to Turkey was chosen, and further surveys were conducted to optimize this route.

Using modern survey techniques, engineers created a detailed profile of the seabed and analyzed the different soil types. Near the coast, the pipeline runs along the relatively shallow part of the sea called the continental shelf. At the so-called continental shelf break the Black Sea suddenly becomes deeper and the seabed plunges from about 80 to over 1,500 metres deep, creating a considerable challenge for the pipeline route. We took these challenges into careful consideration in the pipelaying process and successfully implemented the designed route.

One of the remarkable characteristics of the Black Sea is that there is little to no oxygen below depths of around 100–200 metres due to high levels of hydrogen sulphide. While this is not good for fish and sea life, it is good news for archaeologists. Due to the lack of oxygen and bacteria, shipwrecks and other underwater items of cultural importance barely decay in the deep Black Sea and are often well preserved, even after hundreds of years.

We are one of the first entities to survey the Black Sea bed in a 500-metre wide corridor from east to west. These surveys have helped finding a number of objects of potential cultural importance, including shipwrecks that may date as far back as the late Byzantine period (11-14th century). Further surveys were conducted on the new section of the route to Turkey. Measures were taken to protect and preserve cultural heritage found along the pipeline route.