Energy import bill down more than 4 percent

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s energy import bill declined by 4.2 percent from 2018 to stand at $41.18 billion in 2019, state-run Anadolu Agency calculated from Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) data.

In 2018, Turkey spent some $43 billion on energy imports.

Energy generally captures the largest share in the country’s overall imports. In 2019, Turkey bought a total of 202.7 billion worth of goods from other countries, which translated into a 9.1 percent decline compared with 2018.

Oğuzhan Akyener, president of Turkey Energy Strategies & Politics Research Center (TESPAM), noted that the decline in the country’s energy bill was related to lower oil prices.

“The price of Brent oil dropped by 9 percent last year compared with 2018, easing to $64 per barrel...The decline in the global spot natural gas prices was even larger,” Akyener.

He added that more use of local resources and renewables also contributed to lower energy imports.

In the new economy program, released in September 2019, the government forecasts that Turkey’s energy imports will amount to $42.5 billion this year.

The government projects that Turkey will pay $43.3 billion for energy import next year and $45.7 billion in 2022 while its estimates for the price of Brent oil stands at $61.8/barrel and $62.3/barrel in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Turkey had increased the share of local and renewable resources for the country’s electricity production, Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez said in January.

Electricity production from local and renewables sources in 2019 amounted to 62 percent compared to 49 percent in 2018, a 13 percent increase, Dönmez said.

The country’s energy market regulator (EPDK) recently estimated that 52.02 billion standard cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas will be consumed in Turkey in 2020.

The EPDK’s natural gas consumption estimation was nearly 52.13 bcm for 2019 but the authority has not yet announced the actual consumption.

The country consumed around 49.32 bcm of natural gas in 2018, according to the EPDK’s 2018 Natural Gas Market Report, a rate below the 54.52 bcm forecast for that year.

Turkey aims to decrease its dependence on imported products including oil and gas in energy supply, while increasing the share of local and renewable sources in its energy mix.