Türkiye's top energy official on Thursday described a flurry of natural gas contracts signed at a major industry conference this week as "extremely important" for the country's supply security.
Türkiye struck a series of deals with eight international companies to purchase liquefied natural gas at the Gastech 2025 forum in Italy, securing about 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) of supply for 2026-28, the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said Wednesday.
The first shipments are expected to arrive this winter, the ministry added.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, who held numerous bilateral meetings during the forum while overseeing the signing of agreements, said natural gas is key to diversifying Türkiye’s resources.
Bayraktar said the state energy company, Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corp., or BOTAŞ, signed contracts beginning this winter to purchase about 15 bcm of gas over up to three years, primarily U.S. LNG.
"I believe this will contribute significantly to the diversity of BOTAŞ's supply portfolio," Bayraktar said in a ministry statement Thursday. "We have also signed extremely important agreements for our country's supply security. Starting this winter, in November or December, natural gas will arrive in Türkiye in liquefied form under these agreements."
On the sidelines of the forum in Milan, Bayraktar held his first meeting with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright since he took office earlier this year.
The two discussed cooperation in oil and gas, LNG trade, nuclear energy and critical minerals, the ministry said. It also noted Türkiye’s goal of lifting trade volume with the United States to $100 billion.
Bayraktar also met with executives from Italian energy distributor Edison, U.S. exploration company ConocoPhillips and U.S. oil and gas giant Chevron.
The minister said four potential areas for cooperation have been identified, including nuclear energy.
"There is a significant opportunity in both conventional, large-scale nuclear and small modular reactors. We have ambitious goals for 2050," Bayraktar said.
"We discussed cooperation in the oil and natural gas sector. This is already progressing concretely with LNG supplies from the United States. Furthermore, U.S. companies have partnerships with TP-OTC, a non-conventional production method that began in Diyarbakır," he added.
"Similarly, we are looking to expand our oil and natural gas collaborations into projects in third countries beyond Türkiye. We discussed Libya, the Middle East and other countries with them."
During the conference, Bayraktar also met with Saipem CEO Alessandro Puliti to review plans for Phase 3 of the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea.
Saipem and Turkish Petroleum’s offshore unit TP-OTC signed a deal to build a 183-kilometer (113-mile) subsea pipeline to carry gas from the field to shore.
Discovered between 2020 and 2022, the Sakarya field is estimated to hold 710 bcm of gas. It is expected to meet around 30% of Türkiye's annual consumption once at full production capacity.
In May, Türkiye announced the discovery of an additional 75 bcm of gas in the Black Sea. Saipem was also involved in Sakarya’s first and second development phases.
During the forum, BOTAŞ signed five LNG supply agreements.
Under the deals, Britain’s Hartree will supply 600 million cubic meters over two years, U.S.-based Cheniere will deliver 1.2 bcm in one year, and Germany’s Securing Energy for Europe will provide 600 mcm annually for three years.
Japan’s JERA agreed to supply 600 mcm for one year, while Norway’s Equinor will provide 1.5 bcm over three years.
On Tuesday, Türkiye also sealed three-year LNG purchase deals with bp, Eni and Shell, adding 8.7 bcm to its supply portfolio as Ankara works to secure energy needs and reduce reliance on single sources.
