Home / Oil & Energy / General Energy News / Turkey nat gas consumption seen down 10-11% in 2019 -association

Turkey nat gas consumption seen down 10-11% in 2019 -association

Turkish natural gas consumption is expected to decline to 44-44.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2019 thanks in part to warmer weather, the chairman of the Natural Gas Distribution Companies Association of Turkey (GAZBIR) said on Monday.

That level would mark a 10-11% decline from 2018, when the country consumed 49.3 bcm of gas, according to a Reuters calculation.

“Other than the increase in the temperatures in the second half of the year, the biggest element here is the declining shares of natural gas use in electricity production,” Yasar Aslan, GAZBIR’s chair, said in an interview.

He added that the natural gas used for electricity production, which makes up the largest portion of gas use, is expected to have declined 40% this year.

Turkey is almost completely reliant on imports to meet its energy needs, which can lead to current-account imbalances. It purchases nearly all of its natural gas from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan, and imports liquefied natural gas from 13 countries.

Electricity producers consumed 18.2 bcm of natural gas in 2018. But hikes to gas prices used in electric plants, as well as increased use of renewable sources and unchanged demand in overall electricity caused that amount to decline this year.

Official data show that natural gas used for electricity production declined to a monthly average of 881 million cubic metres in the first nine months of the year, marking a 42% decline.

Residential use, the second-largest portion of natural gas consumption, is expected to remain unchanged in 2019.

The Energy Market Regulatory Authority is expected to announce the year-end consumption data in February.
Source: Reuters (Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)

Recent Videos

Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and International Shipping