[GGP] Gas Supply Changes in Turkey
The Turkish government is in the process of making significant structural changes in the country’s energy sector in attempts to lessen its dependence on current import and transmission infrastructure capacity which is constrained and cannot meet gas demand in peak periods. It intends to diversify supply sources and gas import types (both pipeline gas and LNG/FSRU) to ensure imports are available from a wider range of available sources on competitive terms, at the same time storing more gas in the country once downstream infrastructure capacity allows, to export the excess of gas in the future. Consequently, BOTAŞ expects its maximum daily gas supply capacity to almost double by 2023, from the current 252 mcm/d (including storage capacity) to 473 mcm/d as new projects come on stream. This will extend Turkey’s ability to import gas from various sources by eliminating technical constraints. By doing so, Turkey intends to ensure supply security during the peak demand seasons and to reduce its dependence on existing suppliers, allowing it room to manoeuvre between them and other new options. Turkey is also expanding capacity at its existing LNG receiving terminals and building new FSRUs, taking advantage of the fact that this method of importing natural gas is available in a flexible and near immediate manner. This will give BOTAŞ and private companies an advantage in meeting the growing demand in winter time, instead of having to increase annual pipeline contract quantities (ACQ) due to the application of “take or pay” clauses.
Originally published by The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
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