Türkiye’s gas hub initiative positions the country as a pivotal player in the global energy landscape, Russia’s first deputy minister of energy told Anadolu.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plan ‘to create a gas hub here is one of the initiatives which underscores Türkiye’s role as a reliable partner to become the hub for future energy supplies in various formats,’ said Pavel Sorokin, speaking on the sidelines of the İstanbul Energy Forum, organized by Anadolu under the auspices of Türkiye’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry.
Sorokin added that this will create a physical gas hub for natural gas and a financial ‘node’ for regional connectivity.
The Russian deputy minister said that he believes Türkiye ‘would continue to develop its role’ in the future and his country was ‘ready to work with partners here (in İstanbul Energy Forum), with all the companies and the governments to make it a safe and reliable route.’
He pointed out Türkiye’s ‘privileged geographic position’ connecting Europe and Asia. ‘It is a very convenient transit route from many of the traditional energy supply areas,’ he said.
Türkiye has ‘shown that thanks to pragmatism and economic reasoning, not political,’ was able to build a credible spot for itself in the transit market as well.
He highlighted the development of significant energy infrastructure, including the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), TurkStream and BlueStream, which supply both the Turkish market and European consumers.
‘Türkiye has done a very good job of consolidating interest and once again putting the economy ahead,’ he added.
Noting that Türkiye is also a major energy consumer, Sorokin said: ‘The economy and the population are growing and the industrial base is significantly developing’ in Türkiye.
Türkiye requires energy more and more every year, he said. ‘Energy should come at a competitive price. There should be diversity of sources,’ explained the Russian deputy minister.
– ‘Significant politicization of the energy scene’
Commenting on the developments in global energy markets, Sorokin said: ‘Over the past few years we have seen significant politicization of the energy scene which has led to additional costs for consumers of hundreds of billion dollars.’
He said that this has impacted not only the West but also the Global South, where many countries struggle to bear the higher costs.
Pointing out that any political interference in energy trade does lead to significant fluctuations in volatility, Sorokin said: ‘For example when traditional logistical routes are disrupted that means energy has to travel further which costs more to reach markets and that is more in cost of funding, that is more in logistical costs.’
‘So that is a very unfortunate development and we believe that the global economy does not deserve that,’ he said.
– ‘Competitive supplier of energy’
Pointing out Russia’s position in global energy markets, Sorokin said that Russia is a ‘very competitive supplier of energy to the global markets.’
‘We are low in the cost curve and we have managed quite efficiently to redirect more flows for those countries that do not want our energy,’ he added.
‘If somebody doesn’t want it we are not going to force it upon them to buy it,’ he said and added, ‘We will work with those countries which are more pragmatic and have been our long-term partners both in Asia, in the Middle East, in Africa and in America. So pretty much I would say 85% of the global population is very pragmatic about it.’
‘So our role will continue as it is,’ he said.
‘We are in the top three energy suppliers to the global market and we will remain in that position because we have the technological competence, we have the resource base and we have the good relations which we thank our partners for with which we can build it,’ Sorokin said.
‘So we will continue supplying energy at a competitive price to the global market,’ he added.
– ‘Energy transition requires partnership’
Sorokin also mentioned other partnership areas in the energy sector. ‘Energy transition should not just be a slogan,’ he said.
‘It should be a process which not only helps us achieve climate goals but also helps us reach that goal through economically viable measures without putting too much strain on the consumer,’ he added, saying, ‘that definitely requires partnership.’
Noting the ‘huge impact of politics on the global energy market,’ Sorokin said that countries need to cooperate more on a regional basis as well to create regional solutions for this.
Such cooperation isn’t limited to renewables, he said, adding the world can also collaborate on technologies like carbon capture, utilization, and storage, as well as increasing industrial energy efficiency.
Sorokin also pointed out ‘huge areas of cooperation where we can do it together’ such as new energy technologies, nuclear energy and hydrogen.
‘Especially with hydrogen, we’ll first need to make it work economically and make the costs of it competitive so that once again it’s not the consumer that pays but it rather acts as an additional motivating factor towards a greener future.’
