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A natural gas pipeline connecting Turkey to Greece will be ready to start shipments Aug. 10, and a new deal to link the pipeline to Italy will soon be signed, Greek Development Minister Dimitris...

Italy, Turkey and Greece will soon sign an agreement to build a connecting pipeline from Greece to Italy to link Italy into a natural gas pipeline network originating in Turkey, Greek Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas said July 25. The pipeline has been in the works for several years, and the segment running from Turkey to Greece is expected to come on line Aug. 10. Construction will start on the final pipeline section linking to Italy at the beginning of 2008. With the Turkey-Greece section nearly up and running and every entity involved in the pipeline in agreement, the extension of the pipeline under the Ionian Sea from Greece to Italy is unlikely to run into any obstacles.

Turkey has long pursued a variety of pipeline projects to access vast deposits of Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Russian oil and natural gas. These countries can supply much more energy than Turkey itself can use, even with rising domestic demand. Because of Turkey's strategic position linking the Middle East, Asia and Europe, Turkey has turned its attention to being a transit point for energy supplies headed to the European market.