The Russian-owned operator of the TurkStream gas pipeline said on Thursday that the Netherlands had withdrawn its export license, but it will continue gas transportation, adding that it had requested the resumption of the license.

Russia and Türkiye formally launched TurkStream with a capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters per year in January 2020. The pipeline, which allows Moscow to bypass Ukraine as a transit route to Europe, carries Russian natural gas to southern Europe through the Black Sea and Türkiye.

South Stream Transport B.V., a subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom, is the Dutch-based operator of the offshore portion of the pipeline. South Stream said the Netherlands withdrew the export license on September 18 amid wider sanctions from the European Union.

"The introduction of new sanctions does not restrict the continuation of gas transportation by South Stream Transport B.V. In this regard, the gas supply of various industries and millions of households in Türkiye and European countries will not be affected in the short and long term, " it said on Friday, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

(Source: Reuters with edits)