The Turkish state energy company BOTAŞ and British oil major Shell signed a 10-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) agreement on Monday, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.
The deal marks the latest step in Ankara's push to become a regional energy hub.
"A total of 40 LNG cargoes of approximately 4 billion cubic meters (bcm) will be delivered annually for a period covering 10 years starting from 2027," Bayraktar said.
"This agreement ... provides additional regional and global trade opportunities with the options of receiving (LNG) from the filling port and unloading to European terminals."
Speaking in the ceremony in Ankara, Bayraktar said the deal has strengthened Türkiye's prospects of becoming a natural gas center and its role in playing a part in Europe's supply security.
Earlier this year, Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) signed a 10-year LNG agreement with ExxonMobil, under which it will purchase up to 2.5 million tons of LNG per year from the U.S. company.
In his speech, the minister highlighted the role of BOTAŞ in gas supply and trade, recalling that the company celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.
He also lauded what he said was Türkiye's rapid energy transformation, underscoring the comprehensive strategy taken in this direction, as well as efforts in domestic production.
Bayraktar also drew attention to the fact that Türkiye has the opportunity to export gas through pipelines extending to Europe and reiterated that thanks to this, the country now exports natural gas to neighboring Bulgaria, in addition to Hungary, Romania and Serbia, with which it doesn't share borders.
He also noted that with a consumption of 51 bcm, Türkiye has the fourth-largest natural gas market in Europe.
Türkiye meets the largest part of its consumption needs with imported gas and brought in 14.3 billion cubic meters (bcm), or 28.3% of the 50.5 bcm that it consumed last year, in the form of LNG.
The country also has the supply flexibility for a large part of national consumption needs with liquefied gas instead of pipeline gas if needed, with a gasification capacity of approximately 0.16 bcm LNG per day, according to Reuters calculations.
Despite relying on energy imports, the country has in recent years expanded the scope of exploration efforts, for both oil and natural gas in a bid to curb dependency.
As part of his remarks, Bayrkatar said the current daily gas output corresponds to over 7.5 million cubic meters (mcm). He also noted that Türkiye broke a daily natural gas production record on Aug. 15 with 7.6 mcm, while production from the Sakarya Gas Field alone reached an all-time high of 6.14 million mcm on the same date.
Furthermore, the minister mentioned that a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) platform that set out from Singapore would reach Türkiye at the end of the month.
"After the activation procedures, this facility will produce 10 million cubic meters of gas from the Sakarya Gas Field daily, which will meet the gas needs of 4.5 million households for 20 years," he said.
The platform is the latest addition to Türkiye's energy fleet and will bring the number of vessels to seven.
Shell CEO Wael Sawan, for his part, emphasized that the agreement was built on the trust relationship between BOTAŞ, Shell and the ministry, and thanked everyone who contributed to the agreement.
He said that as a reliable energy supplier, they are "looking forward" to new opportunities to support Türkiye's national energy strategy and meet the increasing LNG demand.
