Natural gas imports down more than 7 pct

ANKARA

Turkey’s natural gas imports decreased by 7.4 percent in September compared to the same month of 2018, Anadolu Agency reported, citing data from the country’s energy watchdog EPDK.

Imports decreased to 3.04 billion cubic meters (bcm) in September from 3.28 bcm in September 2018, the EPDK said in its monthly natural gas market report.

The country imported 2.47 bcm of natural gas via pipeline, while 0.57 bcm was purchased as LNG in September, EPDK data show.

Turkey’s total gas consumption decreased by 20.4 percent to around2.63 bcm this September from around 3.30 bcm in September 2018.

The amount of natural gas in storage decreased by nearly 1.2 percent to 3.24 bcm in September this year from 3.28 bcm in September last year.

Gas production increased to 37.2 million cubic meters (mcm) over the same period, up from 36.5 mcm in September 2018.

In 2018, Turkey imported 50.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas, an 8.85 percent decline from the previous year.

Russia was Turkey’s largest supplier of natural gas last year, with a 46.95 percent share in the country’s total imports.

In 2018, Turkey consumed 49.3 bcm of natural gas, less than the initial estimate of 54.5 bcm for last year.

As of end-2018, companies with licenses to distribute natural gas served a total of 14.8 million subscribers across the country, an 8.7 percent increase from the previous year.