Explosion Halts Flow of Shah Deniz Gas in Turkey
An explosion in Turkey Monday nights has disrupted natural gas flows from Azerbaijan’s offshore Shah Deniz gas field
Kurdish militants are suspected of sabotaging a section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE/South Caucasus) natural gas pipeline passing through the Sarıkamış district of Turkey’s northeastern province of Kar.
The pipeline had just restarted gas following a scheduled three-week halt for inspection and maintenance work on the Shah Deniz field.
A series of bombing claimed by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have struck Turkish energy infrastructure over the recent weeks.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline was attacked previously on August 3rd which followed similar sabotage attacks in July. The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline moving from Iraq was attacked in southeastern Sirnak province at the end of July, and an explosion hit the Iran-Turkey natural gas pipeline in the eastern Turkish province of Ağrı on July 28th.
Observers have commented that PKK are targeting Turkey’s stated goal of a reliable energy transit corridor and developing as an energy hub.