Iran Resumes Gas Flows to Turkey
Iran resumed gas exports to Turkey on July 1, the Iranian oil ministry's Shana news site has reported, citing an official at Iran's state gas company NIGC.
Supplies were halted at the end of March after a pipeline explosion in Turkey. NIGC accused Turkey of intentionally delaying repair work to avoid having to take gas while it was under a coronavirus lockdown. Turkey claimed the explosion was a force majeure event, meaning Ankara could forgo payments under its 25-year take-or-pay contract for Iranian gas, which started in 2001. But Iran did not accept this.
Iran can deliver up to 10bn m3/yr of gas to Turkey, according to Shana. Shipments came to 7.7bn m3 in 2019, constituting 17% of Turkey's total gas imports.