Free, discounted gas to save consumers 40 billion Turkish Liras

ANKARA

A government decision to offer free natural gas for one month and a discount for a year will help consumers to save 40 billion Turkish Liras (around $2.1 billion) in gas costs, according to Mustafa Yılmaz, head of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK).

Last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that consumers will not be charged for the natural gas consumption at all residences in Türkiye for one month.

Additionally, the cost of natural gas required for kitchen and hot water consumption, which is equivalent to an average of 25 cubic meters per month, will be deducted from the bills for one year.

The respective presidential decree on the natural gas was published in the Official Gazette.

The free natural gas scheme will be in effect between April 24 and May 31, while the discounted price arrangement will last until May 1, 2024, said Yılmaz.

There are 19.7 million natural gas subscribers, and 2.8 million houses are connected to the national grid, Yılmaz added. “We have around 320,000 pre-paid consumers.”

“Natural gas distribution companies will pay the utmost attention and we will closely follow this process,” Yılmaz said.

Natural gas consumption declined by 10.6 percent in 2022 from 2021 to 53.26 billion cubic meters, according to data from the EPDK.

In the first two months of 2023, total consumption fell 11 percent from the same period of the last year to 12.1 billion cubic meters.