ANKARA: According to the Medium-Term Economic Program, the country’s energy import bill will total $181.3 billion in next three years.
Turkey’s energy import bill will total $181.3 billion in the next three years, figures in the Medium Term Economic Program show.
The economic program for the years between 2015 and 2017 was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan Wednesday.
According to the program, around $56 billion is expected to be spent on energy imports until the end of this year.
Energy imports will cost Turkey approximately $57 billion in 2015, around $60 billion in 2016 and nearly $64 billion in 2017.
The program includes measures to reduce projected energy spending and how to improve energy efficiency.
It proposes new oil and gas exploration projects both in Turkey and abroad; further development of local resources such as coal and geothermal; and more research into shale gas and other new technologies in the energy sector.
It also aims to reduce the current foreign energy dependence of about 70 percent by increasing investments in energy sources, including renewable and nuclear energies in the near future.
Oil, natural gas and coal imports meet Turkey’s 70 percent energy demand.
Turkey spent nearly $56 billion on energy imports last year.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Turkey imported nearly 671,000 barrels per day of oil, 44 billion cubic meters of gas and 32 million tons of coal in 2013.
Turkey ranks second in the world after China in terms of its rising energy demand. The International Energy Agency says the country’s energy use will continue to grow at an annual growth rate of around 4.5 percent between 2015 and 2030, which means it will approximately double over the next decade.
