Turkey to Import More Electricity from Iran, Ask Discount for Russian Gas
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Turkey's gas contract with Russia gives it the right to demand discounts, said energy minister Taner Yildiz in Ankara on Monday.
Yildiz will meet Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Alexander Medvedev on Monday to discuss the repercussions of the Ukraine crisis on Turkey, mutual investment opportunities, storage of natural gas and the South Stream gas projects in particular, World Bulletin reported.
"We do not want to announce a certain price yet, we will discuss this issue with Medvedev," said Yildiz, adding, “We wish for natural gas prices to be set according to international price levels applied to some EU countries.”
Yildiz stated that Russia and Turkey have agreed in principle to increase the capacity of the Blue Stream pipeline between Turkey and Russia via the Black Sea from 16 to 19 billion cubic meters with some minor upgrades.
As regards the Iraqi oil, he noted, "We have to transfer Iraqi oil to international markets if the capacity is full in Ceyhan -currently the maximum storage capacity is 2.5 million barrels and 1.5 million barrels of oil has already been transferred by the pipelines”.
"Our hydro power capacity is low due to lack of rain, so we import electricity from Iran," Yildiz explained, adding that Turkey occasionally imports and exports electricity to neighboring countries such as Iran, Georgia and Bulgaria depending on electricity production levels.
Turkey heavily relies on foreign energy resources, such as natural gas and oil, which drives almost half of all the electricity production in Turkey and costs up to US $60 billion a year.
The West Stream pipeline currently supplies 12.5 percent of Turkey's natural gas from Russia through Ukraine, and the Blue Stream pipeline transfers 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia to Turkey via the Black Sea.
