Türkiye's state pipeline operator BOTAŞ and U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil inked a cooperation deal on liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade, the Turkish energy minister said Wednesday, in a bid to diversify resources.
"The U.S. is already one of our important suppliers of LNG," Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
"With this agreement, which is planned to be long-term, we will take another step toward diversifying our resources," he said, adding that the deal was signed in Washington.
The minister said he arrived in the U.S. capital for various talks.
"We are among the few countries in the world with our gasification capacity. We will continue to contribute to the energy supply security of both our country and our region," Bayraktar added.
The minister said last month that Türkiye was in talks with ExxonMobil on a more than $1 billion (TL 32.25 billion) deal to buy LNG.
Bayraktar said in an interview that negotiations were ongoing with ExxonMobil for 2.5 million tons of LNG, valued at around $1.1 billion. He added that the deal could last 10 years.
The minister said separately in a post on Thursday that he met U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in Washington and that an energy and climate program between the two countries was initiated.
"We initiated the Energy and Climate Dialogue Program between our countries and held its first meeting. We hope that the program will bring together public and private sector representatives and serve as a productive platform for all stakeholders," Bayraktar wrote on X.
"During our meeting, we also evaluated many topics such as natural gas, renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear energy and critical minerals," he added.
Türkiye has seven international natural gas pipelines, five LNG facilities, including three floating storage and regasification units (FSRU), and two underground natural gas storage facilities.
While boosting its oil exploration efforts in recent years Türkiye has uncovered major fields in its northern Black Sea region as well as in its southeast but remains dependent on imports from countries such as Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as LNG from Algeria, Qatar, the U.S. and Nigeria.
The country aims to become a key gas hub in the region, excel as an exporter and effectively manage the gas it provides.
Evaluating the signed deal with ExxonMobil, Bayraktar stressed the importance of the deal in terms of boosting the diversification of supplies, recalling the energy strategy Türkiye has put forth which involves including various sources in the energy mix apart from ramping up efforts on domestic production. The minister stated that with efforts on gas production in the northern Sakarya field, the current output is meeting the gas needs of 1.8 million homes.
“We have had long-term liquefied natural gas contracts with Nigeria in the past and currently with Algeria for more than 20 years. Now we include America in this," he told an interview with public broadcaster TRT Haber.
"The agreement signed by BOTAŞ with the U.S. today is different from our previous works. It reveals a declaration of cooperation in terms of a long-term gas supply agreement," he said.
"Therefore, it is important in this sense," the minister added.
"It is important for the diversification of Türkiye's gas supply. I hope that what we are talking about today is an agreement large enough to meet 8% of Türkiye's current needs," noted Bayraktar.
Moreover, he conveyed the potential of cooperation on small modular reactors (SMRs) with the U.S.
"We are also seeking cooperation regarding the small modular reactors. There are U.S. companies that are especially competent in this regard. They also have a great interest in Türkiye," he said.
Recalling the meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Bayraktar said that they took an important step regarding the Energy and Climate Dialogue program between the two countries.
“We held the first meeting here. Maybe we will organize the next one in Türkiye. But as I said there, we definitely aim to include the private sector in this program,” he noted.
