Turkey to raise gas storage capacity by 4 bcm: Minister

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

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Turkey is planning to increase its annual natural gas storage capacity by four billion cubic meters (bcm) through a Turkish and foreign partnership, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Oct. 15.

“Totaling 10.5 billion Turkish Liras, there will be two investments for these facilities that are planned to be constructed in the Tarsus district of Mersin province in southern Turkey,” Zeybekci said in a statement.
 
“We have prepared two strategic incentive documents for gas storage investments valued at 7 billion liras and 3.5 billion liras,” he added.
 
The economy minister emphasized that when state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation’s (BOTAŞ) planned gas facility near Tuz Gölü (Salt Lake) in Central Anatolia is completed some 10 percent of Turkey’s annual gas consumption will become storable.

In 2014, Turkey consumed around 45 bcm of natural gas. According to the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry’s strategic plan for 2015-2019, there are plans to raise the gas storage capacity to 10 percent of the country’s annual consumption level by the end of 2019 and to further raise this to 20 percent in the long-term.
 
Currently, Turkey has an operational gas storage facility in its northwestern town of Silivri. The facility has a 2.67-bcm capacity with a 20-million-cubic-meter-per-day withdrawal rate, and an injection rate of 16 million cubic meters a day. Operated by Turkish Petroleum, the facility’s storage capacity is planned to increase by 180 million cubic meters, while its withdrawal capacity is aimed to rise by 30 million cubic meters per day by 2017, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.

Another operational gas storage facility is located in the Central Anatolian province of Aksaray. Operated by Petroleum Pipeline Corporation, this facility has a storage capacity of 1.5 bcm.

The facility in Tarsus province in southern Turkey will be undertaken by Tören Natural Gas Storage and Mining Company, a subsidiary of Turkish energy company Bendis Energy Production and Mining Consultation.

The facility will have a gas storage capacity of 450 million cubic meters, with a withdrawal rate of 24 million cubic meters.