Turkey imported natural gas from US in January, a first

Turkey imported 83 million cubic meters of natural gas from the United States for the first time in January. According to data from the Energy Market Supervisory Board's (EPDK) Natural Gas Sector Report, Turkey, which is dependent on foreign natural gas resources, imported 83 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. Record-high consumption linked to January weather conditions was cited as the he reason behind the move.

In total, 1.16 billion cubic meters of LNG was imported in accordance with bilateral natural gas agreements or over the international spot market. A total of 520 million cubic meters were imported from the spot market, which included the U.S. market. After the shale gas revolution, the U.S. became an exporter of natural gas as of 2016, specifically through the spot market.

Qatar followed the U.S. as the second-largest natural gas import partner in January with 437 million cubic meters, followed by 468 million cubic meters from Algeria and 171 cubic meters from Nigeria. According to EPDK data, Turkey imported 396 million cubic meters more of LNG when compared to January 2015. A total of 240 million cubic meters of this increase was covered by the government's alternative resource finding attempts.