Turkey’s minister of energy and natural resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, has confirmed the country’s intention to buy gas from Russia.
In his interview with CNN TÜRK, he explained that ensuring the energy security of citizens is a priority for the government.
“We must buy gas from anywhere we can,” he said. With winter approaching, Bayraktar emphasized the need to source gas from Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and elsewhere.
“We are striving to increase production of Black Sea gas,” he noted, adding that natural gas production in the Black Sea will quadruple by 2028, reaching 15-16 billion cubic meters annually.
Bayraktar reminded that electricity consumers exceeding 5,000 kWh annually have been removed from the support group and said that a similar arrangement is being planned for natural gas. He stated that natural gas consumption will be evaluated on a monthly and city-based average.
Turkey’s minister emphasized the country’s strategy to ensure supply security through diversification and recalled Türkiye’s prediction in 2016 about a global LNG surplus. “Back then, our daily gasification capacity was 30 million cubic meters. Today, we’ve increased this to 161 million cubic meters – a five-fold increase.”
Referring to president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s meeting with U.S. president Donald Trump at the White House, Bayraktar said it was held in a sincere and constructive atmosphere, adding: “The meeting was very productive.” He noted that all issues between the two countries were discussed during the meeting.
According to Bayraktar, Türkiye signed agreements to purchase a total of 143 billion cubic meters of U.S. LNG, worth $43bn.
“They’re saying we buy gas for $600. Divide $43 billion by 143. What do you get?
“Those claiming $600 should do the math and explain it to the public. It’s completely false – based on hearsay and incomplete information.”
He also pointed out the goal to increase trade volume between Türkiye and the U.S. to $100 billion, noting that the energy agenda with the U.S. centers on oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy. He added that Trump said to him: “If there’s anything you want me to do on this matter, let’s do it right away.”
Responding to claims that Türkiye would buy natural gas from Egypt instead of the U.S., Bayraktar said Egypt is currently not selling LNG to Türkiye.
He explained that under a 3-year agreement, Türkiye rents out FSRU ships (floating LNG terminals) to Egypt for five months each year.
“We are now starting to use FSRUs for export purposes. This is the case for Egypt right now, and we’re discussing a similar project with Morocco,” he said.
