Major Utilization of Natural Gas for Turkey's Energy Necessity in Recent Years

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to investigate major utilization of natural gas in Turkey and its historical development. Natural gas consumption was recently made available in Turkey, and demand has since grown quickly. Indigenous natural gas production is very small; almost all natural gas is imported. Current natural gas production in Turkey meets only 3% of indigenous consumption requirements. Natural gas consumption started in 1976 with the usage of limited indigenous natural gas production in a few industrial plants in Turkey. Turkey began to import natural gas from Russia in 1987 under a contract that provided for the delivery of 6 billion m³ annually for 25 years. Currently, Turkey has a number of contracts with Algeria, Iran, Nigeria, Turkmenistan, and Russia to provide gas via pipeline or as liquefied natural gas.

Keywords:

• historical development
• major utilization
• natural gas
• Turkey

Notes

^a Trillion cubic feet.

^a Billion cubic meters.

^b Öztürk and Hepbasli (2003), Celepci (2004).

^a BOTAS, 2005.