Türkiye to procure gas from American company ExxonMobil instead of Russia
Photo:Türkiye will buy gas from ExxonMobil instead of Russian gas (Getty Images)
Türkiye is negotiating a multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with US energy giant ExxonMobil to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, according to Energy Minister of Türkiye Alparslan Bayraktar.
Türkiye seeks to create a new supply portfolio that will make it less dependent on any single partner and will receive up to 2.5 million tons of LNG per year under a long-term agreement being discussed with Exxon, Bayraktar says.
According to him, the contract could be signed for ten years, and the commercial terms of the deal with Exxon are still being discussed.
Russia accounts for about 40% of Türkiye's LNG consumption. Moscow is also Türkiye's largest oil supplier. Türkiye, which has little oil and gas, is heavily dependent on imports from Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, as well as LNG from Algeria, Qatar, the United States, and Nigeria.
Türkiye's deal with Exxon comes at a time when Russian exports to Europe are falling as Europe increases its purchases of LNG from global producers to cut imports of Russian pipeline gas in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Kremlin's loss of European market
Russia almost lost the European pipeline gas market, which was once its main export market. In 2023, gas supplies to Europe by the energy monopoly Gazprom decreased to 28.3 billion cubic meters. In 2018-2019, the annual flow reached 175-180 billion cubic meters.
Russian exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe in 2023 fell by 1.9% to 15.8 million tons.
