Turkey has confirmed that there are no issues with Russia in the establishment of a gas trading center in Istanbul, which is part of the broader international gas hub project. According to Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, the project will involve an equal partnership between Turkey's state-owned energy company BOTAŞ and Russia's Gazprom.
Bayraktar explained that the operating company for the gas trading center will be formed within the BOTAŞ-Gazprom partnership and will be located at the Istanbul Financial Center. He emphasized that there are no areas of contention between Turkey and Russia regarding the project. The gas trading center will be responsible for trading natural gas and determining its price. The minister noted that both parties have agreed, in principle, to a structure where each will hold a 50% stake, though the complete setup will take some time.
Turkey's annual natural gas consumption is approximately 50 billion cubic meters. Bayraktar mentioned that Turkey is also working on infrastructure to allow the export of 15% of this volume. The development of the gas trading center is becoming a reality as Turkey continues to enhance its energy infrastructure. Currently, Turkey imports natural gas from Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. The country has five gas storage facilities with a capacity of 5.8 billion cubic meters, with plans to increase storage capacity to 10-12 billion cubic meters by 2028.
The idea of creating a gas hub in Turkey was first proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in October 2022 as a way to redirect gas volumes lost due to the disruption of the Nord Stream pipeline. Turkish officials have stated that much of the necessary infrastructure is already in place. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak indicated that the implementation of the hub project could begin in 2024. Bayraktar has reiterated plans to establish the center in Istanbul, involving the collaboration between BOTAŞ and Gazprom.
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Based on materials from TASS