Türkiye, EU should work together for gas security: Minister

ANKARA

Türkiye and the European Union should work together on natural gas supply security, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

Bayraktar met with EU Ambassador to Türkiye Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut and ambassadors of EU member countries in Ankara to discuss Türkiye’s national energy plan and energy transition as well as cooperation in the field of energy.

Stressing the importance of transporting natural gas resources in the Caspian region to Europe via Türkiye, Bayraktar said that long-term investments should be made in this field and the interconnection capacity should be increased, especially with Greece and Bulgaria.

Türkiye makes a major contribution to Europe's energy supply security with its advanced energy infrastructure and multifaceted international cooperation, the minister added.

“We want to develop cooperation with Black Sea neighbors Bulgaria and Romania…Türkiye meets half of its [gas] needs as LNG due to its strong infrastructure. In this way, we are able to cooperate with many countries in Europe,” Bayraktar said.

He noted that natural gas produced from the Sakarya field in the Black Sea meets the demand from 2 million homes.

Türkiye’s energy demand has been increasing steadily, but the country’s foreign energy dependency has declined 67 percent, the minister also said.

“Renewable energy will be a solution to foreign dependency on energy, security of supply and increasing energy demand. Türkiye has a great potential in renewable energy, especially in solar and wind,” Bayraktar said.