Natural gas inflow to Türkiye's gas network totaled 51.48 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2023, marking an 8% decline year-on-year, according to official figures by the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS).
In 2022, approximately 56.01 bcm of natural gas was carried through the Turkish natural gas system, with consumption totaling 53.52 bcm.
The drop in inflow level is linked to warmer than expected weather conditions for the winter months leading to a decline in demand for natural gas.
There might be a gap of up to 5% between overall consumption and the quantity of inflow in Türkiye, which also exports natural gas.
- Gas inflow is highest in January, lowest in June
Last year, the highest figure for natural gas inflow was seen in the month of January at 6.28 bcm and the lowest was in June with 2.34 bcm.
Türkiye continues to invest in its infrastructure to strengthen its gas network. With funding in recent years, the country's infrastructure reached a level to support 50% of domestic gas demand via liquefied natural gas, Alparslan Bayraktar, energy and natural resources minister said on Dec. 28, 2023.
Pointing out that there were problems in the supply of natural gas to industry in previous years, Bayraktar emphasized that this year natural gas storages are completely full.
'We don't foresee such a problem for this year. We will hopefully get through the winter months without any problems. In the coming years, with more intensive commissioning of our domestic gas supply, we will remove this issue from our agenda completely,' he added.
Türkiye's Black Sea gas discovery at 710 bcm constitutes one of the most important milestones in the country's energy sector. Türkiye will meet approx. 30% of its annual natural gas need from Black Sea reserves when full capacity is reached.
The first shipment was made from the natural gas field in the Black Sea on April 20, 2023 with the commissioning ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In the first phase, 10 million cubic meters of gas per day from the Sakarya field will be supplied, and increase to 40 million cubic meters per day in the second phase.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr