Turkey's Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) and Qatar Petroleum have signed a memorandum of understanding for the long term supply of LNG. According to Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, the agreement calls for regular supply of LNG by Qatar. Turkey's total LNG consumption is 55 bililon m3. The country imports 8.4% of its LNG from Algeria and 2.8% from Nigeria.
According to local reports, the memorandum of understanding is the first step in reaching a final agreement that has been passed on to representatives of BOTAS and Qatar Petroleum. No volumes have been revealed yet, however Turkey is looking to secure gas supplies for the upcoming winter and Qatar could deliver above the 0.81 million t it exported to Turkey in 2014.
According to the 2015 World LNG Report published by IGU, Qatar led the world last year in LNG exports for the ninth year in a row. Qatar is considered one of the largest LNG exporters in the world with 76.8 million t of LNG in 2014. Qatar's LNG exports also constituted around 30% of the total 241.1 million t of LNG supplies in 2014. Qatar’s exports an estimated 70% of it’s LNG to Asia - Japan, India, South Korea and China are among the main importers of Qatar’s LNG.
Up until now Turkey had imported most of its gas from Russia, however following a recent dispute regarding Turkey’s air force shooting down a Russian aircraft, it is predicted this agreement may end, although no reports of reduced gas flows from Russia have yet been reported.
Sources: AlbaWaba, LNG World News and Iraq News
Edited from various sources by Francesca Brindle
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/clean-fuels/03122015/turkey-to-import-lng-on-long-term-basis-from-qatar-1876/
