On February 14-15, Turkey will hold the Istanbul Gas Summit, to which it plans to invite representatives of gas producing countries and consumers from European countries. This step is connected with the transformation of Turkey into a major transit hub for natural gas, along with the extraction of Turkish hydrocarbon deposits.

This was announced on Monday by Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Domez during a speech in Istanbul at the Turkish Energy Age forum. The Minister did not specify the level of participation.

“Turkey will soon become a major supermarket for natural gas trading. In this regard, we will hold the Istanbul Gas Summit on February 14-15. In it, we will bring together manufacturers from the Middle East, from [χώρες] Caspian Sea, Central Asia and consumers from Europe,” he said.

“Over the past 20 years, we have made the necessary investments to enable us to become a hub for the natural gas trade. These are transportation, storage facilities, LNG tanks, international pipelines, a wholesale gas market has been created,” the minister said.

During the past year, Turkish representatives “visited 15 countries in Europe, Asia and the Persian Gulf as part of an active diplomatic effort in the field of natural gas,” Mr. Donmez said.

“We are also negotiating with consumers in our area. We have signed an agreement with Bulgaria for the supply of about 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year until 2035. This is about 30% of Bulgaria’s annual consumption. We are holding similar negotiations with North Macedonia, Romania and Moldova,” the Turkish minister said.

He also said that Turkey has reached an agreement with Oman to import 1.4 billion cubic meters of gas per year. This agreement will be valid for at least 10 years.

Source: Reuters, TASS