Turkey to increase gas storage capacity by 4 bcm

Turkey plans to invest a total of TRY10.5 billion ($3.62 billion) in increasing its natural gas storage capacity by 4 bcm (141 bcf) per year, Turkish Minister of Economic Affairs Nihat Zeybekci said on Thursday.

Storage facilities will be constructed in the southern province of Mersin in a project to be implemented by one of Turkey’s state-owned entities, such as the Petroleum Pipeline Corporation or Turk Petrol, and a foreign partner, the minister said in a press statement.

The Petroleum Pipeline Corporation is also working on a gas facility in central Turkey that will enable the storage of about 10 percent of the natural gas that the country consumes yearly. According to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the country is aiming to achieve this objective by 2019.

Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority reported that the country’s gas consumption stood at 48.7 bcm (1.72 tcf), while gas imports were about 49.2 bcm (1.74 tcf) in 2014. The energy regulator forecasts Turkey’s 2015 gas consumption will come in at 50.8 bcm (1.79 tcf).

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