Natural gas imports down nearly 8 percent in 2023

ANKARA

Türkiye’s natural gas imports declined by 7.64 percent in 2023 from the previous year, data from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) has shown.

Last year Türkiye bought 50.48 billion cubic meters of natural gas with Russia being the largest supplier. Russia’s share in the country’s natural gas import was 42.27 percent, said EPDK.

Azerbaijan and Algeria ranked second and third at 10.2 billion and 5.99 billion cubic meters, respectively.

Türkiye bought 5.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Iran and another 4 billion cubic meters from the U.S. last year.

LNG’s share in total gas imports was 28.27 percent, or 14.3 billion cubic meters, up from the previous year’s 27.75 percent. Türkiye imported 71.7 percent of natural gas via pipelines in 2023.

Türkiye consumed 50.2 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, while total supply, including production and imports, amounted to 51.29 billion cubic meters. Gas consumption declined by 5.6 percent last year from 2022.

Households consumed around 17 billion cubic meters of gas last year, down from 18 billion cubic meters in 2022, while the industry sector’s consumption fell from 13.3 billion cubic meters to 12.3 billion cubic meters.

Türkiye’s natural gas production surged nearly 113 percent last year compared with 2022, reaching 807 million cubic meters. In 2019, gas production stood at only 474 million cubic meters.

The country’s gas exports exhibited an annual increase of 54 percent to 869 million cubic meters, according to EPDK’s report.