Turkey's natural gas imports dropped by 7.64% in 2023, the country's energy watchdog, Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), said Thursday, as reported by Daily Sabah.
Imports declined to 50.48 billion cubic meters (bcm) from 54.66 bcm in 2022, of that, 71.73% came through pipelines, while 14.27 bcm, or 28.27%, was purchased as liquefied natural gas (LNG), the report said.
Some 66.39% of imports were made under long-term import licenses and 33.61% were purchased through spot markets.
Turkey's gas output rose by 112.55% to 807.28 million cubic meters in 2023, according to the EPDK, as the country launched production from a vast reserve off its Black Sea coast that will help the energy-dependent country meet its needs in the years to come.
Turkey imported gas from 21 countries last year, ranging from 92 million cubic meters (mcm) up to 21.34 bcm. Russia remained the biggest gas source with a 42.27% share, followed by Azerbaijan with 20.32%, Algeria with 11.86%, Iran with 10.71% and the U.S. with 7.95%.
Imports from Russia totaled 21.34 bcm. The least amount, 92 mcm, was purchased from Oman. Norway, Brazil and Mozambique also supplied natural gas to Turkey.
Around 6 bcm of natural gas was imported from Algeria under a long-term LNG contract, while 4 bcm of LNG was imported from the U.S. and 1.32 bcm from Egypt on a spot basis.
Of the total imports, 90.45% were realized by the state pipeline operator BOTAŞ, 3.43% by Akfel Gaz, 2.77% by Bosphorus Gaz, 1.98% by Kibar Enerji, 0.97% by SOCAR Enerji and 0.39% by Ege Gaz.