Turkey to start gas exports to Romania, eyes far energy markets
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Turkey will launch the export of 4 bcm of natural gas to Romania via pipelines starting October 1.
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A gas pipeline with a Turkish flag blurred in the background. (AFP)
Turkey will begin exporting four billion cubic meters of natural gas per day to Romanian oil company OMV Petrom by the beginning of October after an export agreement was inked between the energy giants, Turkey's state-owned BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation said in a statement on Wednesday.
"BOTAS has signed a significant agreement with OMV Petrom, one of the biggest energy companies in the region … Natural gas exports from Turkiye to Romania via pipelines will start on October 1, 2023, under the agreement, which allows for the supply of up to 4 million cubic meters of natural gas per day and will terminate on March 31, 2025," the statement read.
The two countries further agreed to boost cooperation in the industries of transmission, storage, production, and clean energy technologies, as well as the trade of natural gas.
Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said last month that his country will export natural gas to non-neighboring European countries for the first time.
Ankara expedited efforts in recent years, more so following the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis caused by Western sanctions on Russia, to establish itself as an energy hub and exporter connecting the three continents: Asia, Europe, and Africa.
In April, Hungary announced that it had commenced talks with Turkey on receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a Turkish terminal.
Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said back then that negotiations have already been initiated between [Hungarian energy company] MVM and a Turkish state-owned oil and gas company [TurkStream] on increasing amounts of Turkish gas reaching the Hungarian market.
TurkStream remained the only gas pipeline that "works 100 percent, providing supplies between the East and the West," Szijjarto confirmed, stressing that the EU should participate in building routes for the supply of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, as it is in the interest of the entire region.
Ankara chose to adopt different policies regarding its relations with Moscow than those pursued by its NATO and Western allies, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has opted to position his country as a mediator rather than part of the conflict between the two parties.
This resulted in Turkey becoming a transport and trade route that was used by the East and West to conduct transcontinental trades, even between the two warring sides.
Read more: Buying Russian gas 'unpleasant' but necessary, says Austria Chancellor
In October 2022, Turkey and Russia jointly instructed their respective authorities to explore the feasibility of establishing a gas hub within Turkish borders to divert traffic from the Nord Stream pipelines, which had experienced damage and interruptions.
The project was later put into execution mode earlier this year, while both countries have announced further increasing collaboration to expand the investment into the project due to its lucrative potential prospects.
