In 2022, Russia did not sit idle while NATO and its allies explored the possibility of Black Sea gas. Instead, built its own pipelines in response to the geopolitical situation. According to Hydrocarbons Technology, Russia, Turkey, Gazprom, and the Italian energy company Eni embarked on a joint venture to build the Blue Stream pipeline under the Black Sea from Beregovaya on the Eastern Black Sea coast to Durusu in Turkey and then on to Europe. This pipeline was supposed to travel through the Eastern European countries of Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania, but because of poor Russian relations with these countries, the pipeline was routed to Turkey instead.
According to Russia's foreign ministry, the pipeline is quite a marvel of engineering. Built in 1997 with funding from Italian, Russian, Japanese, and British investors, it originates in Russia at the foothills of the Caucasus, where the pipeline traverses steep, mountainous terrain. Once it hits the Black Sea, it runs along the bottom for nearly 400 kilometers to Turkey, where the gas arrives at the Durusu measuring station near the city of Samsun. During this leg, the pipeline — which is the deepest in the world — reaches depths of 2.2 kilometers (approximately 1.5 miles). From there, it connects to the Samsun-Ankara pipeline, which transports the gas another 444 km to the Turkish capital, whence it can be exported to Europe or used for domestic energy needs.
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