ISTANBUL
Turkey failed to reach agreement with Gazprom on natural gas prices for 2015, said Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister.
Turkey and Gazprom conducted two meetings on natural gas prices for 2015 without reaching an agreement, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz explained on Wednesday.
"Low oil prices are weakening our bargaining power," he said, adding that Turkey may hold a third meeting with Gazprom in the near future.
Yildiz, in a press conference for Energy Charter's Turkey report on Wednesday, said that the country used two bcm of natural gas in the last ten days as a result of cold weather which amounts to the annual consumption of many countries. He said in this ten-day period, Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, Eskisehir and Kocaeli consumed the most natural gas.
With the country's increasing need for secure supplies, he referred to potential problems between Ukraine and Russia which could affect Turkey's energy security as it receives 12.5 percent of its natural gas via the Western Pipeline which comes through Ukraine. He added that he does not envisage such a danger in the near future.
"Technical losses in electricity transmission are normal but we cannot tolerate non-technical losses," Yildiz said and added that "We will make new regulations in January on non-technical losses," he said in order to overcome losses in electricity.
Yildiz, speaking on oil prices, said that low prices are beneficial for Turkey, but the shut down of oil operations as a result of low prices may cause a upward movement in prices.
"Global oil producers have lost $950 billion in the last six months, which means a gain for consumers," he said.
He explained that an official visit to Baghdad will be made on Jan. 18 to discuss the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline and the agreement between Baghdad and Erbil.
"We want these agreement to widen to help build stability in the region," he added.
Yildiz said that the oil flow from Northern Iraq had reached 450 thousand barrels per day, and added that he wants this number to reach firstly 550 thousands and then one million barrels per day, without giving exact dates for such targets.
Yildiz said Turkey will require the production of solar panels or cells in Turkey for solar investments.
"We don't want to use imported led bulbs for street lighting. With regulations, domestic production will be more advantageous for these investments," he added.
