EIA: Turkey's importance in energy markets growing
Turkey's importance in the energy markets is growing, both as a regional energy transit hub and as a growing consumer, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its report.
"Turkey's energy demand has increased rapidly over the last few years and likely will continue to grow in the future," EIA's Country Analysis Brief said.
EIA belives that in addition to being a major market for energy supplies, Turkey's role as an energy transit hub is increasingly important.
"It is key to oil and natural gas supplies movement from Russia, the Caspian region, and the Middle East to Europe," EIA's report said.
EIA reported with the reference to the Oil & Gas Journal' estimates, that as of January 1, 2013, Turkey's proved oil reserves stood at 270 million barrels.
In 2011, Turkey's consumption averaged 706,000 barrels per day (bpd). In 2011, Turkey imported more than 90 percent of its total liquid fuels consumption.
According to the IEA, Turkey's imports are expected to double over the next decade.
"The majority of Turkey's oil imports originated in Iran, which supplied about 51 percent of Turkey's crude oil imports in 2011," EIA's report said.
EIA stressed that Turkey plays an increasingly important role in the transit of oil.
"It is strategically located at the crossroads between oil-rich Former Soviet Union countries and the Middle East, and the European demand centers. In addition, it is home to one of the world's busiest chokepoints through which 2.9 million barrels per day flowed in 2010," EIA said.
According to EIA's report, Turkey also holds a strategic role in natural gas - between the world's second largest natural gas market, continental Europe, and the substantial gas reserves of the Caspian Basin and the Middle East.
As of January 1, 2013, according to Oil & Gas Journal's estimates, Turkish natural gas reserves stood at 218 billion cubic feet (6.17 billion cubic metres). The country produced 27 billion cubic feet (about 764 million) of natural gas in 2011, relying almost exclusively on imports to meet domestic demand.
"Turkey's energy demand growth has been among the fastest in the world in 2010 and 2011, although slower economic growth in 2012 has dampened the natural gas consumption increase to some extent," EIA said.