LNG

Turkey has started expanding its Marmara Ereğlisi LNG import terminal with construction of a fourth storage tank, state operator BOTAŞ said. The new 160,000-cubic-meter tank will lift total LNG storage capacity to 415,000 cubic meters from 255,000 cubic meters. Works began on July 7, with addition of the fourth storage tank set to increase the terminal’s total capacity by about 63%, once in operation around 2029.

Turkey’s state-owned pipeline operator BOTAS and the Italian energy company Edison have agreed to work together on LNG trade and swap operations, while evaluating a new gas pipeline across the Mediterranean between Turkey and Italy.

Shell has won a tender to deliver one LNG cargo to Turkey on behalf of Bulgaria’s state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz, in a move highlighting Sofia’s reliance on LNG to meet seasonal electricity demand.

Greek gas company DEPA has been awarded the tender for one LNG held by Bulgargaz. Delivery of the cargo will be to the Marmara Ereğlisi LNG terminal in Turkey.

Turkey’s state energy company Botas has renewed its pipeline gas contract with Russia’s Gazprom, keeping volumes unchanged at 21.8 bcm/y. Analysts say this removes much of the upside risk to Turkey’s LNG demand in 2026.

Turkish state gas company BOTAS has agreed to purchase a total of 11 bcm of LNG-equivalent over 10 years from Germany’s state-owned SEFE and Italy’s Eni starting from 2028. Shipments will take place in winter only, sourced the partner’s Atlantic Basin supply portfolios.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced the discovery of a significant natural gas reserve at a well in the Black Sea. Estimated to hold 75 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas at an estimated value of over $30 billion, the new find will put a lid on Turkey’s LNG imports.

"With this discovery, we will meet the natural gas needs of homes in Turkey for 3.5 years," Erdogan at the EPC Summit in the Albanian capital Tirana on Saturday. The novel discovery, worth an estimated $30 billion, has been found at a depth of 3,500 metres in the Goktepe-3 well, he disclosed.

Daily gas production at Turkey’s flagship Sakarya field in the Black Sea nears 9.5 bcm and a timely start of production at Goktepe-3 would reduce the country’s need to import natural gas for years to come. The government has for long urged state-run Botas to reduce its energy import bill by limiting LNG imports and forge closer ties to international upstream companies with a view to develop more domestic oil and gas reserves.

In 2025, Turkey’s LNG imports are forecast to surpass 9 million tons, equivalent to some 12.4 bcm – down from the 14.27 bcm of LNG imported two years earlier. The fall in LNG imports reflects the country’s shift to regional suppliers and drive to increase domestic gas production.

Deliveries of pipeline gas from Turkmenistan will rise 1.3 bcm by the end of this year, based on a contract that state-run Botas signed with Turkmengaz in March. Botas is handling over 90% percent of Turkey’s total gas imports. No details on pricing terms were provided, though Turkey’s energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar indicated volumes imported from Turkmenistan could rise up to 2 bcm per year.

Part of Botas’ imported LNG, shipped under long-term contracts, has been re-exported – either on small-scale tankers or in the form or shipped via pipelines to neighbouring countries. In 2023, Turkey exported 896 million cubic metres of natural gas with 371 mcm supplied to Bulgaria, 217 mcm to Greece (pipeline), and 102 mcm to Romania – all via pipeline. Another 206 mcm was sold to Swiss trading houses in the form of LNG.

To reign in excess supplies, Turkey is trying to re-negotiating long-term LNG supply deals, e.g. the ongoing discussions with ExxonMobil for 2.5 mtpa or less over a decade. Similarly, Botas is in talks with Shell over flexible term LNG supply.

Delivery of 1.1 mtpa of LNG over 10 years was recently agreed with TotalEnergy. First shipments envisaged for 2027, though the actual offtake might be scaled down if more cost-competitive natural gas can be produced in Turkey by that time.

Turkey’s incumbent gas importer BOTAS has issued a tender for delivery of five LNG cargoes in the first quarter of 2025 that will support the supply and demand balance in the EU gas market this winter. Analysts caution, however, Egypt’s new FSRU poses upside risk to non-European demand.

The Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ), the nation's main natural gas wholesaler and assets operator, and US energy major ExxonMobil Corp have signed a cooperation deal on liquefied natural gas trading.

The Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, who was in the US for talks, confirmed the accord in a statement after several months of negotiations.

“With this agreement, which is planned to be long-term, we will take another step in diversifying our resources,” stated Bayraktar.

“We are among the few countries in the world with ample LNG regasification capacity and we will continue to contribute to the energy supply security of both our country and our region,” the minister declared.

Value of deal

Minister Bayraktar had also mentioned last month in an interview that Turkey was in talks with ExxonMobil on a supply agreement worth more than $1 billion.

Bayraktar had said at the time that negotiations were ongoing with ExxonMobil for 2.5 million tonnes of LNG, valued at around $1.1Bln and lasting up to 10 years.

Turkey has varied LNG supply sources and has half a dozen natural gas pipelines bringing in Turkish supplies and traversing its territory to deliver volumes to other nations.

Russia is a big supplier of pipeline gas to Turkey, accounting for more than 40 percent of its consumption in 2023.

The Gazprom BlueStream gas pipeline to Turkey is 1,213 kilometres (754 miles) in length and with design capacity of 16 billion cubic metre per annum, while the Russian TurkStream gas pipeline is about 930km long and with capacity of 31.5 Bcm.

Turkey is additionally the main transit nation for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the final leg of the 3,500km Southern Gas Corridor pipeline network for Azerbaijan gas, which came on stream in 2020 and supplies primarily Greece, the Balkans and Italy.

Main LNG suppliers

Turkey’s main LNG suppliers over the past years have included the US, Algeria and Egypt.

US LNG data shows that the Turks are currently the eighth-largest recipients of US LNG cargoes since 2016 and receive at least six shipments per month.

BOTAŞ, the signatory of the accord with ExxonMobil, builds and operates natural gas pipelines in Turkey and accounts for most of the nation’s wholesale market.

The company runs the Marmara Eregesli LNG import terminal as its main source of cargoes while several floating facilities also operate.

Turkey has received LNG since 1994, first from Algeria and later from countries like Qatar and Nigeria and then from the US as well.

ExxonMobil’s LNG portfolio is wide and varied from Qatar itself to Papua New Guinea.

It is additionally an upstream partner of QatarEnergy worldwide in addition to having supplies from Ras Laffan.

QatarEnergy is also the lead developer of the Golden Pass LNG export project in Texas that will come on stream in 2025 and in which ExxonMobil has a 30 percent stake.

Turkey, an LNG importer and with plans to increase domestic production from Black Sea fields and the main route to Europe for natural gas from Azerbaijan, has raised the prices of natural gas and power by 20 percent for industrial users amid energy secuirty concerns in the South Caucasus region bordering Eastern Europe.