Minister Bayraktar announces: Turkey is at the table with a US company for energy

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar gave an interview to the Financial Times newspaper. In the interview, he noted that as part of an agreement aimed at reducing dependence on Russian gas and diversifying supply, Turkey is negotiating a long-term deal with Exxon that includes the supply of 2.5 million tons of LNG annually.

According to assessments by energy pricing agency Argus, the cost of the agreement to Turkey would amount to approximately 1.1 billion dollars annually and would meet about 7 percent of the country's natural gas needs.

FOR SUPPLY SECURITY

Stating that long-term contracts with Russia will expire in 2025 and those with Iran will end at the end of next year, Bayraktar pointed out the need to purchase natural gas from other sources for supply security, saying, "This could be from Russia, it could be from Azerbaijan, it could be from Iran, or LNG options could be explored. We will have to look at which gas is cheaper."

TALKS WITH EXXON

Stating that the commercial terms of the agreement with Exxon are still being negotiated, Bayraktar said that Turkey imported 5 million tons from the US spot LNG market last year.

Energy giant Exxon plans to increase its LNG portfolio to 40 million tons per year by 2030, doubling its 2020 levels. Exxon, which is building a new LNG export terminal in the US Gulf of Mexico together with QatarEnergy, is also pursuing LNG projects in Papua New Guinea and Mozambique. The annual capacity of the facility in the US is over 18 million tons and it will begin production in the first half of 2025.

In the interview, Bayraktar also defended Turkey's relations with Russia, pointing out that thanks to competitive energy agreements made with Russia, the country was able to avoid a major energy crisis following the war.