Russia's Exports to Turkey Fall Jan-April
The latest official statistics indicate that Turkey reduced gas imports from Russia by 17% to 8.24bn m3 in Jan-Apr of this year compared with 2015 when relations between the two countries were relatively untroubled. Turkey's total gas imports (including LNG) also fell by 764mn m3 to 16.723bn m3, Turkey's energy market regulatory authority's latest monthly reports indicate.
During this period, Azerbaijan and Iran exported more gas to Turkey, although not significant quantities: Azerbaijan sold 40mn m3 more gas, bringing the total to 2.26bn m3 and Iran sold 213mn m³ more year on year, bringing the total to 2.83bn m3.
Details of Turkey's gas imports and year-on-year change (%)
| Seller
|
Jan (mn m3) |
% +/- |
Feb (mn m3) |
% +/- |
Mar (mn m3) |
% +/- |
Apr (mn m3) |
% +/- |
|
Azerbaijan |
594 |
2 |
558 |
4.2 |
561 |
-3 |
546 |
3 |
|
Iran |
853 |
5 |
686 |
- |
638 |
- |
651 |
26 |
|
Russia |
2,785 |
4 |
1,808 |
-26 |
1,757 |
-25 |
1,889 |
- |
|
Total pipeline |
4,234 |
4 |
3,053 |
-17 |
2,957 |
-17 |
3,086 |
5 |
|
LNG |
1,159 |
26 |
911 |
-4.4 |
856 |
21 |
467 |
-26 |
|
Total |
5,393 |
8 |
3,964 |
-14 |
3,812 |
-11 |
3,553 |
3.3% |
Source: Energy Market Regulatory Authority
Coming to LNG, the country imported about 3.4bn m3 in the period, or 178mn m3 more than last year. Turkey's total pipeline imports fell by 942mn m3 in the four months to 13.33bn m3.
Azerbaijan exported above 8.4bn m3 of gas in 2015, of which 6.168bn m3 went to Turkey (including Georgia’s transit fee), 1.846bn m3 to Georgia; and 390mn m3 to Iran (for the gas swap whereby Iran exports gas to Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, after lifting a fifth of the volume as payment).
Iran announced on June 18 that it sold Turkey 11% more, totalling 21mn m3/d, during the first 86 days of current fiscal year, covering a period from March 21 to June 14. Iran has a contract with Turkey to export 27mn m3/d of gas on average, but according to official statistics, it only exported 22.5mn m3/d in 2015, about 2mn m³/d less than 2014.
Despite Russian gas exports plunging, its total gas exports increased by 11.4% to 66.2bn m3 during the first four months of 2016.
Azerbaijan desk