Former head of Turkey's Petroleum Pipeline Corporation and IENE Senior Associate says Turkey is not able to tolerate any gas supply shortages from Russia
Turkey’s natural gas consumption in the winteris already on a ‘knife’s edge’ and the country cannot tolerate any foreign gas supply interruptions, former head of Turkey's Petroleum Pipeline Corporation said Wednesday.
Last week, Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said Russian natural gas volumes from the West Line to Turkey had fallen by 40 percent.
"Turkey did not ‘face any problems yet’ due to this decrease because of the mild weather,” Gokhan Yardim, former head of Turkey's Petroleum Pipeline Corporation,BOTASand current head of gas company Angora Gaz, told The Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.
"However if the decreased supplies do not return to normal levels in the coming days, Turkey will probably suffer from domestic gas shortages,” he added.
Turkey imports some 14 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually from the West Linewhich travels through Ukraine.
"BOTAS has made some preparations this summer, in anticipation ofpossible supply problems arising from the situation in Ukraine,” Yardim said. He addedthat there is not much Turkeycan do becausethe country’s gassupplies have reached dangerously low levelswhich will not be able to withstand any shortagesas consumption increases.
Yardim pointed out that Turkey could only cut consumption in its power plants which run on gas to reduce the amount of gas needed.
by E. Gurkan Abay
(http://aaenergyterminal.com, December1, 2014)
