Azerbaijan to boost natural gas exports to Turkey

ANKARA

The Azerbaijani state oil company, SOCAR, has agreed to import additional amounts of natural gas to Turkey amid a cut in the flow from Iran, a senior official of the company has said.

“We have already responded to Turkey’s request, and having mobilized the available capacity, gas exports from Azerbaijan to Turkey will be increased in accordance with the arising needs,” deputy head of public relations of SOCAR company, Ibrahim Ahmadov, wrote on Facebook.

Ahmadov also expressed his belief that this step will contribute significantly to the strengthening and development of the Azerbaijan-Turkey friendship and brotherhood.

Earlier, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov stated that the Shah Deniz field has supplied more than 85 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to the Turkish gas market since 2007.

Meanwhile, having won the bid on the spot pipeline gas capacity reserve issued by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) on Jan. 26, SOCAR will supply Turkey with 4 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas per day in February.
National pipeline company Botaş will receive some 5 mcm of natural gas per day through the TurkStream pipeline next month, EPDK said on Jan. 26.
Turkey needs to meet growing gas demand due to record-level consumption during the extreme cold weather conditions. The country’s natural gas consumption hit a daily record high of 290 million cubic meters on Jan. 20.
On the same day, Iran said that it would not send natural gas to Turkey between Jan. 21 and Jan. 31 due to a technical malfunction on the main pipeline.

Since last week, Turkey has been implementing gas cuts to the industrial zones and gas-powered electricity stations to ensure uninterrupted flow to households.
The Energy and Natural Resources Ministry has also annunced power cuts to the industrial sector for at least three days. Turkey generates nearly a third of its electricity through gas-powered stations.
On Jan. 26, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said full gas flow from Iran will return “in 10 to 15 days.” Industry will use energy in a controlled way, he said in an interview on private broadcaster NTV.

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 provides around 45 mcm. However, Turkey had 1.2 bcm of gas in storage as of Jan. 18, 42 percent less than a year earlier, according to Energy Exchange Istanbul data.
The ministry secures the remaining capacity through its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and floating LNG facilities.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said on Jan. 24 that all entry points for natural gas, with the exception of Iran, are operating at full capacity.
“Some of the industrialists wanted to stop at full capacity for a few days and then work. Some companies have energy-intensive processes, such as furnaces. We need to supply gas and electricity at a minimum level for them,” he said.