Türkiye’s natural gas imports decreased by 7.64% to 50.48 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2023, compared to 2022, according to the latest annual gas report of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority’s (EMRA).
Data compiled from EMRA’s report disclosed that Türkiye imported 50.48 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2023, 71.73% of which came through pipelines, while 14.27 bcm, or 28.27%, was purchased as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Natural gas imports were recorded as 54.66 billion last year, out of which 66.39% were under long-term import licenses and 33.61% were purchased through spot markets.
– Imports from 21 different countries
Türkiye imported natural gas from a total of 21 countries last year, ranging from 92 million cubic meters up to 21 billion 340 million cubic meters.
Russia ranked first in natural gas imports with a 42.27% share, followed by Azerbaijan with 20.32%, Algeria with 11.86%, Iran with 10.71%, and the US with 7.95%.
Türkiye imported 21.34 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia. The least amount of 92 million cubic meters was purchased from Oman. Norway, Brazil, and Mozambique also supplied natural gas to Türkiye.
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 US and 1.32 bcm from Egypt on a spot basis. France and Belgium were also among the countries that imported spot LNG in small quantities.
Of the total imports, 90.45% were realized by Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS), 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.
At 11.95 billion cubic meters, Durusu, a district of Arnavutköy in the province of Istanbul, was the port of entry for the largest gas imports.
Kıyıkoy in the Kırklareli province followed with 8.6 bcm, TANAP Seyitgazi with 5.9 bcm, Gurbulak with 5.4 bcm, Marmara Ereglisi LNG Terminal with 5.07 bcm, and Turkgozu with 4.36 bcm, 3.74 bcm through the Egegaz Aliaga LNG terminal, 2.22 bcm through the Etki LNG terminal, 2.01 bcm via the Dortyol FSRU terminal and 1.23 bcm through the Saros FSRU terminal.
According to the report, the highest quantity of natural gas, 6.63 billion cubic meters, was imported in December, while the least, totaling 2.33 billion cubic meters, was imported in June.
Türkiye exported 896.3 million cubic meters of natural gas last year, of which 370.9 million cubic meters were transmitted to Bulgaria through pipelines.
Greece followed with 216.6 million cubic meters and Romania with 101.5 million cubic meters.
Ankara sent the most LNG to Switzerland, at 206.4 million cubic meters.
