Explosion in Turkey halts flow of Shah Deniz pipeline

Turkey

ANKARA, August 25, 2015 – An explosion on a section of pipeline in Turkey carrying natural gas from the BP-led Shah Deniz project in Azerbaijan has halted flows, Turkish energy officials have said.

According to Reuters, one official has said it was thought Kurdish militants had sabotaged the asset.

Monday’s blast comes only a day after gas flow was resumed at the pipeline and the asset had not yet reached capacity. Damage assessment is set to begin Tuesday. It is not clear when flow will resume until after this is completed, according to one Turkish official.

This is the second time in less than a month that the Turkish section of the pipeline has been attacked. An explosion had previously hit the pipeline on August 4, although flows had already been shut in the day before for the maintenance work.

A few days earlier, an attack by militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, halted pipeline flows carrying crude oil to Turkey from Iraq.

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