Photo: AFP
State-owned company Turkmengaz has temporarily halted natural gas exports to Turkey, according to MK-Turkey.
At a press conference following the international “Turkmenistan Oil and Gas — 2025” conference, Turkmengaz Chairman Maksat Babaev confirmed the suspension. He noted that the contract with Turkey provides for the export of 2 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Deputy Chairman Murat Archaev explained that the agreement is a pilot project aimed at assessing potential risks. Technically, the company is ready to meet its contractual obligations, and deliveries will resume once the current issues are resolved. Babaev added that the contract is short-term.
“If we don’t agree on volumes or price, we have other buyers. It’s a market,” he said, cited by Oilcapital via Reuters.
During the same conference, BOTAŞ CEO Abdulvahit Fidan highlighted Turkey’s interest in long-term, large-scale Turkmen gas supplies. Thanks to its developed infrastructure and commercial links with 34 countries, Turkey has become a major regional gas supplier. Fidan cited the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) as a key project supporting gas deliveries to Europe.
“Now both countries face a more ambitious goal — long-term and large-scale Turkmen gas supplies. Achieving this will be a milestone for the entire region,” Fidan said, according to Report.az.
Turkmen media reported in March that the gas supply agreement with BOTAŞ was a historic achievement following negotiations that began in the 1990s. Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, stated that Turkmen gas, supplied at a competitive price, meets the annual needs of about 1.5 million Turkish households.
Under the agreement, gas is imported via a swap scheme through Iran. By the end of 2025, supplies were expected to reach 1.3 billion cubic meters. In May, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced intentions to extend the agreement for another five years.
In early October, the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources expressed interest in increasing Turkmen gas imports, including via the Caspian Sea, which would allow Turkmenistan access to third-country markets, including the EU.
Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world for natural gas reserves, after Russia, Iran, and Qatar.
