Negotiation of a cross-border natural gas pipeline: An analytical contribution to the discussions on Turkish Stream

The announcement of the termination of South Stream project and the introduction of the Turkish Stream project by Russia was an unexpected move. A reasonable question we should ask if Turkey, and also Russia, behave as a prudent merchant and correctly calculate their negotiation powers when negotiating the Turkish Stream project. An analytical framework that outlines the stakes of the parties from the project would enable us to evaluate the negotiation powers of the parties. As such a framework depicts, Turkey had greater negotiation power than Russia if it had offered terms in which the gas hub is created in Turkey. However, Turkey downplays its power into a price negotiation while it could gain further ground in its ambition to become a regional gas hub. •The introduction of the Turkish Stream project by Russia was an unexpected move.•The negotiation powers can be calculated by Chamberlain (1951) bargaining model.•Turkey has regarded the project as an opportunity to gain price discounts.•For the project, Turkey’s negotiation power is greater than Russia.•Turkey can do more to solidify its position to create a gas hub in its territory.