The warming relations between NATO member Turkey and Russia comes as both countries are dealing with troubled economies and strained ties with the West.

Turkey wants to buy more natural gas from Iran and has discussed pricing issues, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday, adding that Ankara and Tehran should resolve a dispute on gas prices without arbitration.

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin said there were no doubts that Turkish Stream will happen and work could start soon. He was speaking at a joint press conference with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan August 9.

Turkey is Gazprom's second biggest export market after Germany. In 2015 Gazprom exported about 27bn m3 of gas to Turkey. Currently Russian gas is exported to Turkey via the Blue Stream gas pipeline and the Trans Balkan gas pipeline.

"Turkey needs to diversify its imported energy resources. Turkey's approach to Russia will bear fruit in early October. The feasibility of the Turk Stream natural gas pipeline project, which Putin proposed in late 2014, may begin later this year. If all things go smoothly, we may see the Russian molecules in early 2019 via a new pipeline,"

BP PLC, on behalf of the Shah Deniz consortium, has let a $1.5-billion contract for the transport and installation of the deeper water subsea production systems for Shah Deniz Stage 2 offshore Azerbaijan to the BOS Shelf LLC, Saipem Contracting Netherlands BV, and Star Gulf FZCO consortium.

Russia has been developing new pipeline projects such as South Stream, Turk Stream and Nord Stream 2. If one of them were to be realized then transit risk stemming from Ukraine would be severely minimized and Moscow would have important strategic leverage.

Gas trade relations between Gazprom and private importers are one of the more important topics regarding the Turkish gas market.

Last month, the state-owned Southern Gas Corridor Company (SGCC) raised $1bn in a 10-year eurobond at 6.875% yield. However, it met only half of its original plan.

Turkey has for the first time imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US in 2016, said the message from Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA).