Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom announced the government has granted permission to conduct engineering surveys for the offshore part of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline project.

According to a written statement released by Gazprom late Monday, the government has sent a document to Gazprom allowing its engineers to work in Turkish territory. "The document stipulates that investigations will be conducted within the exclusive economic zone and territorial waters of Turkey in order to place the first offshore string of the gas pipeline," Gazprom said in the statement.

On June 15, Turkey received the coordinates of the Turkish Stream pipeline route and ensured there was no territorial conflict with the economic zone of its neighbor, Bulgaria, in the western Black Sea.

Turkish Stream plans to carry Russian natural gas to Europe via Turkey and Greece. The pipeline will be built under the Black Sea and reach Greece through Turkey's northwestern Thrace region. Turkish Stream's offshore section will consist of four pipelines and each part will have a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas. The pipelines will pass through 660 kilometers of the old South Stream route - the cancelled project that was supposed to carry Russian gas to Europe via Bulgaria - under the Black Sea, and travel 250 kilometers towards a new route to reach Turkey's Thrace region.

Gazprom further noted in the statement that the first pipeline will supply natural gas only for the growing Turkish gas market, which is estimated to cost $3.73 billion.

Turkish Stream will have a total capacity of 63 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. It will deliver 47 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe, while the remaining amount will be allocated for Turkey's domestic use.

A memorandum of understanding for the Turkish Stream project was signed by Turkish state-owned energy company Botaş and Gazprom on Dec. 1, 2014, during Russian President Vladimir Putin's official visit to Ankara.