Why is Turkey expanding its gas storage facilities

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented on the possibility of Turkey becoming the gas re-exporter to the Oil and Capital magazine.

Alexey Belogoryev explained that the main goal of the Turkish UGS expansion is to reduce Ankara's dependence on the gas demand growth during peak consumption (winter). As a rule, it was supplies from the Russian Federation that satisfied this peak demand.

"Such UGS will make Turkey's gas supply system more manageable and flexible. As for the possibility of LNG exports, they are now more opportunistic for Turkey, since the Mediterranean (by the way, like Ankara itself) has lost supplies of liquefied natural gas from Egypt. Right now, Ankara has few opportunities for re-export. The pipeline capacities are all contracted. It's about perspective," the expert says.

In his opinion, Turkey could use the lease of floating regasification terminals (FSRU), but there is a shortage of them on the world market now, it is necessary to order in advance, and Ankara is not doing this yet. But Turkey has excess LNG receiving capacity, which means that it may convert part of the infrastructure for the export of liquefied natural gas. It turns out that in the future Ankara is able to juggle imports of liquefied natural gas in combination with pipeline gas in order to ensure an increase in LNG exports.