BAKU, Azerbahijan. Feb 11(Qabil Ashirov)-Turkmenistan diversifies its natural gas exports. Alparslan Bayraktar, the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister, announced on his X account that Turkiye and Turkmenistan have struck a deal to export Turkmen gas to Turkiye via Iran.
The post reads: “We have taken a historic step in Turkiye-Turkmenistan energy cooperation. We have signed an agreement between BOTAŞ and Türkmengaz that will enable the flow of Turkmen gas to our country.
In March of last year, in the presence of our President Mr. Erdogan and the Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov, we signed a memorandum of understanding in Antalya to develop our cooperation in the natural gas sector. Today, we have reached the tangible outcome of that agreement.
Under the agreement, the gas flow is planned to begin on March 1, 2025. With this agreement, which we have been working on for many years, we will strengthen the natural gas supply security of our country and region while advancing the strategic cooperation between the two countries.”
Despite the Turkish Minister not providing detailed information about the deal, the agreement signed in March of last year, mentioned in the post, aimed to export up to 2 bcm of natural gas in the first phase. In 2024, in a statement to government-owned media, the Minister noted that three different options were on the table for bringing the Turkmen gas to Turkiye.
The first option – Turkmen gas to come to Turkiye via swap through Iran.
The second option -Turkmen gas to come to Turkiye via swap through both Iran and Azerbaijan.
The third option – Turkmen gas would reach Turkiye via a pipeline crossing the Caspian Sea.It apprears that the parties preferred the first option.
Although the volume is not so big, but it is a promising agreement which both sides can benefit from it. Turkmen gas will diversify the energy source of Turkiye and could strength the position of Turkiye as a energy hub. Currently, Turkiye imports gas from Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran. In addition, the country imports liquefied natural gas (LNG) from several other countries.
As for the benefits for Turkmenistan, the country is highly dependent on China in terms of exports. Gas exports make up over 70 percent of the country’s total exports, with more than 80 percent of that going to China. The country has been seeking ways to diversify its export destinations for a long time. In this regard, Turkmenistan signed an agreement with Azerbaijan to transport about 2 bcm of gas via Iran at the end of 2021. Unfortunately, in early 2024, the project was temporarily delayed and has not yet resumed.
The most significant gas deal was signed between Turkmenistan and Iraq in 2010. According to the agreement, Turkmenistan is to export between 10-20 bcm of gas to Iraq through Iran. To put this into perspective, Turkmenistan exported 40 bcm of gas to China in 2023.
