Turkey ups gas imports from Azerbaijan
By Nigar Abbasova
Azerbaijan, one of the main energy partners of Turkey, increased the volume of gas supplies to the country in 2016.
Turkey’s energy market regulator EMRA reported that Azerbaijan delivered some 6.48 billion cubic meters (bcm) of blue fuel in the reported period, while the volume amounted to 6.17 bcm in 2015.
Turkey imports gas from Azerbaijan via the South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) and has a contract for purchasing 6.6 bcm of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas and condensate field annually.
Last year, Turkey imported 46.164 bcm of gas, recording a decrease of 2.2 bcm as compared to the total 48.266 bcm in 2015. Some 38.72 bcm of the volume was imported by means of pipelines, while 7.63 bcm fell to a share of compressed natural gas (CNG).
The share of Azerbaijan in the total volume of gas imports amounted to 13.98 percent.
The main decrease was recorded in the gas imported from Russia. The volume decreased by 2.25 bcm from 26.623 bcm to 24.373 bcm. The imports from Iran slightly decreased from 7.926 bcm to 7.704 bcm.
Gas consumption in Turkey, the second country in the world in terms of natural gas demand growth, is projected to hit 46.03 bcm in 2017.
Turkey does not possess indigenous energy resources and imports almost 90 percent of crucial fossil fuel. Russia is by far largest gas supplier of the country, while Iran is a runner-up, which provides almost one-fifth of consumption.
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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova
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