Turkey seeks stake in US gas projects as it increases LNG imports
Turkey plans to invest in the US market to gain a stake in gas production and exploration there, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on Wednesday.
Bayraktar said Turkey will receive 1,500 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from the United States over the next 10 to 15 years.
"To hedge our position on gas supply and to build the entire value chain, we are considering investing upstream in the US market," Bayraktar said.
"We are already in talks with some major US oil companies, such as Chevron and Exxon. You may hear about some deals soon, possibly within the next month, involving Turkish Petroleum."
He noted that Turkey is already cooperating with the US company Continental Resources on unconventional production projects, including hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking.
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Turkey has recently signed several long-term agreements with US and international energy companies for LNG purchases, which also include resale rights.
Bayraktar said Ankara aims to position itself as a key gas supplier for southern Europe, including Ukraine.
"The Bulgarian interconnection currently has a capacity of only 3.5 billion cubic meters [BCM], which is a bottleneck. There is much greater potential. If we can at least double this capacity, it would provide significant relief for the southeastern European market," he explained.
"We are essentially aiming for a maximum export capacity of around 10 BCM to this market. That could be our ultimate goal."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Turkey last month, where energy cooperation was among the main topics discussed.
"Of course, they asked for our help in supplying gas to Ukraine," Bayraktar said. "Similar discussions are ongoing with Greece, and Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation and Ukraine's Naftogaz are working together to explore possible solutions."
He added that Ukraine has substantial underground gas storage capacity, which could be used to store gas purchased in the summer, when prices are lower, and then consumed in the winter.
Last month, Ukraine signed an agreement to supply American LNG through Greece's regasification facilities.
Bayraktar pointed out that Greece lacks sufficient capacity to act as a major supplier for the European market.
"We have a regasification capacity of 32 BCM per year, and we may have an excess of 10 to 15 BCM available next year," he said, emphasising Turkey's superior floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) capacity.
He also announced that Turkey plans to expand its FSRU infrastructure. "We currently have three units, and we plan to add two more in the coming years. This will further increase our LNG intake capacity," he said.
Bayraktar said Turkey may lease its FSRU capacity to other countries, such as Egypt, which could use Turkish infrastructure to purchase LNG during the summer months for five or six months at a time.
"In the near future, other countries, such as Morocco, could also benefit from this system," he added.
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