Turkey aims to extend Algerian LNG contract

ANKARA - Reuters

Turkey wants to extend its contract with Algeria to buy an annual 4.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of liquefied natural gas when it expires in 2014, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said Dec. 21.

Yıldız told reporters that Turkey may seek to raise the amount of LNG it buys from Algeria to 6 bcm and seek a five- to 10-year contract. The two sides have agreed to next year’s 2.5 bcm of spot purchases, he said.

Turkey has also sought to buy 6 bcm of LNG from the United States but those purchases will not be carried out for three or four years, Yıldız said.

Turkey ranks 15th in the world and 2nd in Europe after Russia, with its 3.7-million-ton LPG market. The sector has a business volume of $12 billion and pays $4 billion in taxes. It provides 150,000 people with direct employment, Yıldız separately said Dec. 20 after meeting with World LP Gas Association (WLPGA) CEO James Rockall in Ankara.

Yıldız noted that the Turkish LPG sector enjoyed an extremely important place in the global LPG market and set an example for many countries with its existing infrastructure, regulatory agencies, and mature market dynamics.

He said that the pioneering role assumed by Turkey in the goal of tripling the existing amount of LPG used on the roads until 2020 as part of the EU plan to fight climate change. Yıldız also pledged sustained Ministry support for the continued growth of the LPG sector.

Rockall said Turkey’s management of the energy markets sets an example to the world in every way.

“We are also encouraging other countries to help create similar markets that have regulatory institutions in place, which are the most important elements of healthy and sustainable development.”