Botaş executive expects no problems over natural gas

ANKARA

The Ukraine conflict will not result in the natural gas shortage in Turkey, the general manager of Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (Botaş) has said, however, adding that the war will impact the prices.

There are 4.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas in Turkey’s storage facilities, Burhan Özcan said, speaking at the parliamentary public economic enterprises sub-commission.

Turkey will not change its plans for natural gas because of the war between Ukraine and Russia, Özcan told members of the commission. “There won’t be any [natural gas] cuts, but the war will affect us through prices. Prices will increase due to reasons beyond our control,” he said.

Özcan recalled that some natural gas agreements expired at the end of 2021, but new deals were inked.
Turkey imports 41 percent of the natural gas it consumes from Russia, and the country’s daily consumption is around 360 million cubic meters, Özcan told the commission members.

“Thus, even if there is no natural gas inflow, the natural gas stored at facilities would last for 15 days,” he said, adding that work is underway to expand the country’s storage capacity, which will increase to 12 billion cubic meters by 2025.
He also said that Iran is not fulfilling its commitments arising from the agreements and provides 60 percent of the natural gas it should deliver.

“They make excuses [for delivering fewer natural gas], they cite problems with the pipeline. They do not want to deliver gas partly because the prices are rising. If Iran does not fulfill its obligation, we may seek arbitration,” Özcan said.
He also provided members of the commission with information regarding the gas finding in the Black Sea. In the first phase, 10 million cubic meters of natural gas from the Black Sea gas fields would be pumped into the national grid, according to Özcan.

“This amount will increase to 40 million cubic meters per day in 2025. Most of the natural gas from the Black Sea will be used in the industry sector, and it will be made available to residential consumers after 2026,” Özcan said.

In December 2021, Turkey imported 6.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas, declining by 1.2 percent on an annual basis, the latest data from the country’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) showed.

Some 3.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas were delivered through pipelines, while 2.5 billion cubic meters, were imported as LNG (liquified natural gas), rising nearly 81 percent from the same month of 2020.

The country’s natural gas purchases from the U.S. leaped 93 percent on an annual basis to more than 1 billion cubic meters in the month.