ANKARA: Israel is closer than ever to signing an agreement to export natural gas to Turkey, according to reports in the Turkish and global press and statements by Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz in an interview at the end of last week with the “Bloomberg” news agency.
Turkey wants to consume half of the quantity of gas in the Leviathan gas reservoir, starting in 2020. In the second stage, gas may be transported from Turkey to Europe through a pipeline. “We have a strong connection with Israel, and importing Israeli gas to Turkey is a big deal for us,” Zorlu Holdings CEO Omer Yungul said last week, adding that his company wanted to import 8 BCM of gas in the near future.
Zorlu is involved in the Israeli electricity sector, and together with Adeltech and Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline, is a partner in private power station Dorad Energy. Adeltech and Zorlu also plan to build two more private power stations in Israel, and last January signed a gas supply contract with Leviathan.
Yungul’s remarks came on top of statements by Turcas Petrol CEO Batu Aksoy that 15 Turkish energy companies were joining forces to promote the importing of Israeli gas to Turkey. Aksoy argued that Turkey, not Egypt, would be the anchor customer for Leviathan, and would consumer half of the gas in Leviathan. “The main advantage in assembling a consortium is distribution of the risks incurred in such a major deal,” Aksoy asserted, adding that Turkey, which consumes 50 BCM of gas a year, wants to decrease its dependence on gas from Russia, the supplier of 55% of the gas used in Turkey, with Iran accounting for an additional 15%.
The more Turkey succeeds in diversifying its sources of supply and reducing its dependence on a single supplier, the greater its energy security, so the prices it obtains will be lower, and the supplier’s political power will also be weakened.
