Eni SpA (E), Calik Holding, JSC Transneft and OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to discuss conditions to allow Russian companies to participate in a pipeline project bringing oil from the Caspian to the Mediterranean via Turkey.
The companies signed the memorandum of understanding "which envisages the commitment to discuss the definition of the economic and contractual conditions for Russian companies to participate" in the Samsun-Ceyhan project, said the Italian energy company in a statement.
These conditions are necessary to ensure the volume of crude needed to guarantee the profitability of the project, Eni added.
The pipeline aims to transport oil from the Black Sea port of Samsun to the Mediterranean one of Ceyhan across Turkey, avoiding the use of ships to cross the busy Istanbul Strait.
Monday, the governments of Italy, Russia and Turkey signed in Milan a joint agreement on the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline, said Eni is the same statement.
The governments will guarantee the stable and regulatory framework needed for the construction of the pipeline, according to the statement, as part of their effort to enhance energy security via the diversification of transport routes.
The three governments agree that the participation of Russian oil companies to the pipeline project will "contribute to the strengthening security of supply," said Eni.
Earlier this year, Eni said it would finance the cost of an engineering study for the possible construction of the oil pipeline, while an investment decision would be made only at its completion.
The Italian company has been involved in the pipeline project since 2005 and is set to play a leading role in its realization, after it bought half of Trans Anadolu Pipeline Co., or Tapco, which was established for the construction and management of the Samsun-Ceyhan line