BOTAŞ

BOTAŞ was originally established in 1974 for the construction and operation of the Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline. Since 1987, BOTAŞ has also been involved in the natural gas transportation and trade activities. From February 9, 1990, until May 2, 2001, BOTAŞ had monopoly rights on natural gas import, distribution, sales and pricing. In practice, the gas distribution monopoly of BOTAŞ ended only in 2007, when Royal Dutch Shell and Bosphorus Gaz, a joint venture of Gazprom and Tur Enerji, started to sell natural gas in the market.

In addition to the Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline, BOTAŞ owns and operates Ceyhan–Kırıkkale, Batman–Dörtyol, and Şelmo–Batman crude oil pipelines. It also owns and operates the national gas grid of Turkey with total length of 4,500 kilometres (2,800 mi), and Marmara Ereğlisi Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Import Terminal. Internationally, BOTAŞ participates in the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline, Arab Gas Pipeline section between Syria and Turkey, and Turkey–Greece gas pipeline. It was also a partner in the Nabucco Pipeline project.