The first significant steps of Turkey’s current role in the world energy market have been taken. The Memorandum of Understanding of the Samsun-Adana-Ceyhan Pipeline Project which Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin started its initiatives in Ankara was signed yesterday in Milano, Italy.

The participants in the signing ceremony hosted by the Governor of Milano, Giano Valerio in governor palace were: Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey Taner Yıldız, Deputy Prime Minister Responsible for Energy Igor Ivanovich Sechin and Minister of Energy Sergey Shmatko of Russia and Minister of Economic Developments of Italy Claudio Scajola, the Chairman of Çalık Holding that develops the project, Ahmet Çalık, and authorized officers of Russian Rosneft and Transneft and Italian Eni.

TAPCO which has great importance for transforming Turkey’s geostrategic position into a strategic advantage and strengthening its position in the international energy sector which is publicly known as Samsun-Adana-Ceyhan Pipeline Project, involves design, construction and operating the transportation system that will transport crude oil from the facilities that is near Samsun Harbor in the Black Sea shores to the facilities of Ceyhan Terminal in the Mediterranean Sea.

The project mainly consists of a 550 km crude oil pipeline, which has a new loading terminal in Samsun Harbour, and the crude oil storage facility in Ceyhan are going to be constructed. After the project is completed, it will be a solution for safeguarding of the Turkish straits, and which will cost USD 2,5 billion, the capacity of the line will be 1,5 million barrels of oil. The Samsun-Adana-Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline Project is Turkey’s one of the important steps taken for being a regional power.