Turkey signed a deal with Oman Monday to buy 1.4 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum for 10 years, the country's Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said at an energy summit in Istanbul.
Although no more details were provided, Donmez, who addressed the first energy summit of 2023, said that a delegation from Turkish state energy company BOTAS had visited Oman to sign the deal. The 10-year contract will begin in 2025, according to the state-run Oman News Agency (ONA).
In December, Oman LNG agreed to supply LNG to three Japanese companies starting in 2025 in binding agreements signed between the companies, according to ONA.
As part of the long-term contracts, which range from five to 10 years, Oman LNG will deliver LNG to Japan’s electricity generator JERA and trading houses Mitsui & Co and Itochu Corporation. Oman LNG is expected to export 2.4 million metric tons per annum to the three Japanese firms.
Turkey will host a natural gas summit in Istanbul on February 14 and 15 to bring together gas suppliers and consumer countries, Reuters said in a report citing Donmez.
"We will bring together supplier countries from the Middle East, Mediterranean, Caspian and Middle Asia with consumer countries from Europe," added Donmez.
Turkey is highly dependent on oil imports from Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, as well as LNG imports from Qatar, the US, Nigeria and Algeria.
In October 2022, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to create a gas hub in Turkey to supply Russian gas to Europe.
The international gas hub, which would supply Russian gas to Europe, may be established in the province of Kirklareli in the European part of Turkey, where the TurkStream gas pipeline lays, Russian news agency TASS reported then.
Turkey has the infrastructure and experience in gas trade and authorities are taking steps for it to be a hub where regional benchmark prices are set, Donmez said, the Reuters report noted.
Our target is to bring together supplier and consumer countries and become the gas-trading center where the benchmark price of gas is set," Donmez said.
In fact, Russian gas supplies via new gas pipelines across the Black Sea and Turkey, as well as the gas hub, are planned to help countries of Central Europe, head of the Energy Development Center Kirill Melnikov told TASS in October. He added that developments may not start until 2025.
Western countries and their allies have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia for its attack on Ukraine.
The main question is who will buy the gas. We think that such a project is intended for the markets of Central Europe, which do not have direct access to LNG due to their geographical location," Melnikov said, adding that the key potential clients are Austria, Moldova and Hungary.
