Türkiye and Turkmenistan seek to boost gas trade to 300 bcm

ISTANBUL

Türkiye and Turkmenistan aim to have an annual gas trade volume of 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) in the next 20 years, amounting to 300 bcm, the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry has said.

To reach that volume, the two nations "need a pipeline," but utilizing existing infrastructure, Ankara and Ashgabat aim to start with an initial volume of 2 bcm through a swap method, the ministry said in a statement that quoted Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.

The statement came after Bayraktar’s two-day visit to Turkmenistan where he met top energy officials.

Ankara is working to transport Turkmenistan’s gas to Türkiye and then onward to Europe, Bayraktar said.

He said there are several alternatives to realize the project.

“The ultimate and the most important one is to have a pipeline through the Caspian Sea with a much larger amount of natural gas and a long-term agreement to transport this natural gas to the western markets, to Türkiye and to Europe,” he said.

Bayraktar, pointing to other cooperation areas on natural gas, noted Turkmenistan's investment plan on natural gas storage.

"[Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation] BOTAŞ has a very important competence and infrastructure in this regard," he said.

"We have approximately 6 bcm of natural gas storage capacity in Türkiye. We want to increase this to 12 bcm by 2028.”

He also discussed with top officials the possible cooperation opportunities regarding oil and natural gas exploration and production in Turkmenistan's onshore and offshore areas, Bayraktar wrote on social media platform X.

This visit was not only focused on natural gas and oil, Bayraktar said, adding that possible cooperation in the fields of minerals and electricity was also discussed.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that it is only a matter of time before Turkmenistan's gas is transferred to Türkiye and Europe through the expanded Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP).

Bayraktar and Azerbaijan's Economy Minister signed a comprehensive deal earlier this year on capacity expansion for several natural gas pipelines.

Bayraktar had said that the deal would allow for additional gas volumes from Azerbaijan, as well as natural gas from the Caspian region to Türkiye and Europe by 2030, though the exact volumes are yet to be announced.

An agreement was also reached to transport Turkmenistan natural gas to Türkiye via Azerbaijan and Georgia, Bayraktar added.