Up until recently, half of the Black Sea coast cities and town relied on either expensive LNG or the 30-year-old Maikop – Samurskaya – Sochi gas pipeline for their natural gas, with the latter often experiencing gas supply issues due to the complex geological conditions along the pipeline route.

In light of the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics, to be hosted in Sochi, the Government of the Russian Federation decided to construct the Dzhubga – Lazarevskoye – Sochi gas pipeline to enhance the reliability of the regional gas supplies, and deliver gas to the sports venues commissioned for the 2014 competitions.

In addition, the pipeline was also planned to assist in the development of Sochi as a mountain resort. Ensuring a reliable gas supply would allow health resorts to remain open all year round, attracting tourists in the autumn and winter seasons and creating permanent jobs for local residents.

The 171.6 km, 21 inch diameter pipeline, which was commissioned by Gazprom in June 2011, has an annual throughput capacity of 3.8 Bcm/a, which aims to ensure gas supply to Sochi, as well as to the Tuapse district of Krasnodar Krai.

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With 90 per cent of the pipeline – or 159.5 km – located offshore, the pipeline route runs along the bottom of the Black Sea, approximately 4.5 km away from the coastal line in water depths of approximately 80 m, to the Kudepsta gas distribution station near Sochi. The pipeline is made of high-strength steel, with a wall thickness of 15 mm in the offshore section and 11.3 mm in the onshore section.

Gazprom began construction of the pipeline in September 2009, and made environmental safety a priority due to the fact that the pipeline – according to the company – ‘crosses the most climatically attractive and, therefore, the most cherished areas of [Russia] – the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Krai’.

Several steps were taken to reduce interference with the coastal flora and fauna. The most vital biocycles of the local fauna species were taken into account when the pipeline’s construction schedule was devised, and directional drilling was used instead of trenching for the construction of landfalls near the cities of Dzhubga, Novomikhailovsky, Tuapse and Kudepsta.

The decision to include an offshore section in the pipeline route has considerably minimised impact on industrial and agricultural industries, and forest lands, as well as specially protected natural reservations.

Cathodic protection was adopted to protect the pipeline, and precautionary measures were also taken to protect the pipeline in case of natural incident such as direct lightning strike and electromagnetic impact. In addition, the pipeline has been designed to withstand magnitude nine earthquakes, based on seismic survey data collected early on in the project.

Major companies involved in the pipeline construction included contractor Piter Gaz, general designer Pitergazengineering, general contractor Stroygazmontazh, offshore pipeline subcontractor Grup Servicii Petroliere, onshore pipeline subcontractor Krasnodargazstroy, and directional drilling subcontractors SP VIS-MOS and DrillTec Rus.

The pipeline is now being operated by Gazprom subsidiary Gazprom transgaz Krasnodar (formerly Gazprom transgaz Kuban).