Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) has launched an international tender for leaching management and surface operations services under the third phase of the Tuz Golu Underground Natural Gas Storage Project, according to tender documents on Thursday.
The tender covers the planning, execution and completion of leaching operations in 50 wells where primary drilling has already been completed, aiming to reach a total physical cavern volume of 37.5 million cubic meters.
The project site is located in the Sultanhani district of central Aksaray province, around 200 kilometers south of the capital Ankara and nearly 40 kilometers south of Tuz Golu, one of Türkiye’s largest salt lakes.
The contract period was set at 2,500 calendar days. A pre-qualification evaluation meeting is scheduled for June 5 at BOTAS headquarters in Ankara.
The tender is open to both domestic and foreign companies that meet the eligibility criteria. Bidders must submit offers covering the entire scope of work in US dollars, while consortium applications will not be accepted, BOTAS said.
Launched in 2011, the Tuz Golu Natural Gas Storage Project has become one of Türkiye’s key energy infrastructure investments.
Earlier this week, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification capacity has increased nearly fivefold since 2016 to 161 million cubic meters per day.
Bayraktar also said underground gas storage capacity at the Silivri and Tuz Golu facilities has reached 6.3 billion cubic meters, adding that Türkiye aims to expand storage capacity further so that at least 20% of annual gas consumption can be stored by 2028.
