A Turkish delegation dispatched this week to Iran after the country announced a temporary suspension in natural gas exports has reportedly found Tehran allocated the supplies for domestic use, contrary to the claims that technical failures were behind the sudden squeeze.
Officials from the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry and the state-run pipeline company BOTAŞ flew to Tehran this week on a mission to try to reverse the halt that Iran said would last 10 days, citing technical problems.
The sudden stoppage in the flows through the eastern Ağrı province has already forced Turkey to impose restrictions to limit gas use and cut electricity supplies for industrial sites.
A part of the delegation sent to Iran to defuse the battering crisis has returned to Turkey, while the other is said to remain in Tehran to maintain contacts to address the issue.
First evaluations by the team reportedly determined that beyond a technical malfunction, Iran opted to use the gas to meet its growing domestic demand.
Iran is known for suffering from natural gas shortages during winters and summers when local consumption skyrockets.
The delegation reportedly did not encounter any major technical fault and found that rough winter conditions made Iran cut the gas flow to Turkey.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez on Monday said Iran failed to meet some technical conditions regarding the setup in the natural gas contract with Turkey.
"We are undertaking all efforts possible to solve the problem. That’s what we also conveyed to the other side (Iran)," Dönmez said.
Ankara reportedly plans to seek international arbitration in case the matter turns into abuse by Tehran and remains unresolved in the coming days.
Iran last Friday claimed gas flows to Turkey resumed, but some Turkish officials said supplies were significantly lower than the required volumes, while others suggested flows had not resumed at all.
A contract with Turkey obliges Iran to supply 28 million cubic meters (over 988 million cubic feet) of gas per day, however, it has been reportedly sending around 1-2 million cubic meters of gas and at low pressure over the recent days.
It is being emphasized that Iran continues to provide gas, albeit in a small amount, so it can assert in the future that it was complying with contractual obligations.
Ankara has also strongly denied allegations that there was a technical fault at a pressure-boosting station in Turkey as well as claims that the stoppage resulted from its debt to Iran.
"We certainly do not owe Iran anything. Such a statement has not been made from the opposite side either," Dönmez said.
The minister said Turkey is being supplied with the same resources as Europe, stressing that the continent had also suffered from similar issues and supply cuts that triggered enormous hikes in prices.
"We renewed all our contracts to ensure our households are not left without gas in these cold winter conditions, and we closed the shortfalls by making purchases from the spot market," Dönmez noted, also stressing that all entry points, except Iran, are running at full capacity.
Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said the sudden halt in gas shipments by a major supplier such as Iran has triggered problems.
But he said that the manufacturing sector should be able to weather the drop in production due to power cuts.
"The industrial sector is strong enough to overcome this period that will last for a few days," Varank said. "We’ll try to get through this together. We know that there will be production losses at this point," he added.
Iran has conveyed there was a gas leak, according to Dönmez, who said Turkey had urged Iran to continue gas exports and postpone repair operations. Yet, Iran reportedly said it had no other choice but to reduce the gas pressure and exports.
The limited supply, along with high demand in household gas use due to colder-than-normal weather, have forced BOTAŞ to order gas-fueled power plants to slash gas use by 40% and the government to impose power cuts in organized industrial zones.
Compounding the gas concerns, the country’s natural gas consumption hit a record high on Jan. 19, stemming from the recent harsh winter conditions and constant snowfall in many provinces around the country.
The government has pledged that households would not be affected by blackouts and restricted gas supplies.
Dönmez said some of the industrialists opted for a temporary pause in production for the 10-day period instead of running at half-capacity.
Turkey is almost fully dependent on imported gas from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. According to the latest official data, Iran alone provided 16% of Turkey’s natural gas needs in the first 10 months of 2021.
Dönmez said contacts with Iran continued at the ministry level, also recalling President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s call over the weekend with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi.
In the telephone conversation, Erdoğan told Raisi that Turkey considered its neighbor a "reliable source of energy," according to Iranian media. No further details were given.
Dönmez said Erdoğan asked for "sensitivity to the issue."