Natural gas cuts to industrial zones end: Botaş

ANKARA

Turkey’s Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (Botaş) announced yesterday that natural gas cuts to industrial zones will end as of this morning.

In a tweet, the national energy company thanked industrialists “for their understanding and cooperation in this period.”

On Jan. 20, Iran halted natural gas flow into Turkey for 10 days due to technical failures on a key pipeline.

On the same day, Turkey’s natural gas consumption hit a daily record high of 290 million cubic meters due to cold weather conditions.

Botaş decreased gas flow to industrial zones 40 percent for 10 days, while the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry also implied power cuts to factories for three days.

On Jan. 31, Botaş announced that gas flow cuts would be reduced to 20 percent.

Tofaş, a joint venture of Turkey’s Koç Holding and European carmaker Fiat Chrysler, was among those companies that have suspended production. Renault’s joint venture also said it would halt production at its factory in the northwestern province of Bursa.

Households were not be affected by blackouts and restricted gas supplies.

As droughts lowered the share of hydropower stations in the country’s power generation, nearly half of the country’s electricity is produced in gas-powered plants.

Turkey relies on Iran for around 10 percent of its gas imports during the winter months.

The Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) estimated that the country’s natural gas consumption will reach 60.04 bcm this year, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette on Jan. 28.

Currently, daily gas flow to Turkey totals around 270 mcm, out of which the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines transmit 90 mcm from Russia.

The Trans Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) carries 17.3 mcm of Azerbaijani gas on a daily basis, while a spot market agreement with Azerbaijan covers 7 mcm.

The country’s underground gas storage facilities provide around 45 mcm.

The ministry secures the remaining capacity through its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and floating LNG facilities.

The Azerbaijani state oil company, SOCAR, has agreed to import additional amounts of natural gas to Turkey this month.

In recent years, Turkey imported around 45 billion cubic meters of natural per year, paying about $12 billion to pipeline suppliers Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as to liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers, including the United States, Morocco, Qatar and Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Central Bank sold foreign currency worth $4.1 billion last month, according to data released yesterday. That amount was $6.1 billion in overall 2021.