Turkey clinched a flurry of liquefied natural gas contracts at a major industry conference this week, helping to support its foreign trading ambitions and cut its reliance on longstanding suppliers Russia and Iran.
State-run gas company Botas signed eight agreements with energy majors from across the globe at the Gastech conference in Milan, giving it access to around 6 billion cubic meters of additional liquefied natural gas a year. That’s almost half its imports of the fuel in 2024.
The new supply means that within two days, Turkey has more than met the additional demand that the government anticipates between now and 2030. It also makes the country the most active dealmaker at the conference, underscoring its efforts to diversify suppliers just as older contracts run out.
“These short-term deals could help assuage a potentially tight supply in the short run as it remains unclear whether some Russian pipeline gas deals will get renewed,” said BloombergNEF analyst Olympe Mattei.
Key terms like duration and annual volume were missing from some of the announcements, but they were mostly three-year deals starting in 2026.
With Turkey’s own production from the Black Sea set to grow, the longstanding importer may end up having more gas than it needs based on the current supply mix. To balance it, Ankara could cut back spot LNG purchases or negotiate lower volumes on long-term pipeline contracts with legacy suppliers Russia and Iran, both of which are set to expire in the next year.
Another option is to resell some of the excess on foreign markets, expanding its trading portfolio as Botas tries to grow beyond its traditional role as the state importer. The company is seeking to buy or charter LNG vessels and open a Swiss office to back its trading push, Bloomberg reported previously.
It’s not clear if the new pacts include options for Turkey to redirect cargoes to other markets like similar contracts it signed in 2024, but the prominence of US suppliers would suggest some do. Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar repeatedly stressed the value of “flexibility” in his announcements at each signing.
Beyond straight supply deals, Botas also signed a cooperation agreement with Oman LNG to boost production capacity in the Gulf sultanate and collaborate on vessels to ship the gas. It also agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Chinese major PetroChina International Co. on LNG trade, transport and “joint efforts in new markets,” Bayraktar said on X.
“We need much more gas,” the minister told a panel on Tuesday. “We are exploring other projects with our partners in Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, Africa, and various regions of the Middle East.”
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