title: Tabriz–Ankara pipeline
text: # Tabriz–Ankara pipeline
  
  The Tabriz–Ankara pipeline is a 2,577-kilometre (1,601 mi) long natural gas pipeline, which runs from Tabriz in north-west Iran to Ankara in Turkey.
  
  ## History
  
  The construction of pipeline started in 1996 after signing a gas deal between Turkish and Iranian governments. The gas deal was signed on 30 August 1996. The pipeline was commissioned in July 2001.
  
  The Iran-Turkey pipeline has allegedly been blown up several times by PKK fighters. In January 2008 gas supplies were stopped because of cut-off gas supplies from Turkmenistan. The supply was cut off again in February 2008 because of bad weather conditions.
  
  ## Technical features
  
  The Turkish section, operated by BOTAŞ, cost US$600 million. The pipeline capacity is 14 bcm per year: Turkish normally imports about 11 billion cubic meters of gas a year through the pipeline. Just before Ankara it is linked to Blue Stream.
  
  ## Contracts
  
  Negotiations are in progress to renew the current 25 year contract, for nearly 10 bcm per year, which expires end-2025 according to the Middle East Economic Survey (or end-July 2026 according to the Oxford Institute for Energy $Studies^{:22}).$
  
  