Türkiye has been pursuing a long-term strategy to diversify its energy supplies and reduce dependence on single sources, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Thursday.
Bayraktar told a live broadcast that diversification has been part of Türkiye’s approach since the 1990s, but recent years have seen a sharp acceleration.
“Many countries are implementing diversification strategies. You need to diversify supply. Türkiye has been implementing such a strategy since the 1990s,” he said.
Speaking about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent visit to the United States, Bayraktar described meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump as constructive and results-oriented, stressing energy was a key part of the $100 billion trade volume target between the two countries. Türkiye, he said, is already importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S., which has grown into a leading global producer of oil, gas and nuclear energy.
“We meet about 11% of our natural gas needs from the United States,” Bayraktar said, highlighting the importance of LNG in diversifying supply.
Türkiye began receiving LNG from Algeria and Nigeria in the 1990s, and in 2016, the government adopted a new strategy to expand capacity and prepare for the global LNG boom. Since then, Türkiye has increased its regasification capacity fivefold, from 30 million to 161 million cubic meters.
“By 2016, Türkiye said there would be massive LNG globally, and I must be ready for it,” Bayraktar explained, adding that the expansion of LNG terminals has made Türkiye less vulnerable to supply shocks. Bayraktar emphasized that natural gas remains a critical part of Türkiye’s energy mix, both for households and industry, and said the government will continue to seek diverse sources, routes and types of energy to ensure long-term supply security.
Türkiye has limited oil and natural gas resources, which makes it a major energy importer vulnerable to fluctuations in the energy markets. For two decades, it has been incentivizing investments in renewable power to reduce its high import bill and insulate itself from geopolitical risks.
The country consumes more than 50 billion cubic meters of gas every year and relies on a mix of piped gas from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, along with liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from various suppliers.
Last month, Türkiye and the U.S. signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation at the White House
