Qatar ready to accommodate Turkey's LNG changing needs

By Bahattin Gonultas

DOHA, Qatar (AA) - As a reflection of strong relations between Qatar and Turkey, Qatar will continue to prioritize flexible LNG supplies to Turkey, said Mohammed Saleh Abdulla Al Sada, minister of energy and industry of Qatar.

Al Sada, who is the current president of OPEC, told Anadolu Agency that Qatar has supplied LNG to Turkey for a number of years in an arrangement that allows Turkey to draw down supplies as and when necessary.

"We have at least two framework agreements without specified quantities and whenever our Turkish consumers want shipment, they order as required," the minister said.

He explained that excellent bilateral relations are not confined to energy but extend to other areas.

The Qatari minister congratulated Turkey for increasing its LNG import capacity and said, "Turkey is already expanding its LNG imports and storage capacity. I think this is an excellent policy to help Turkey diversify energy sources while allowing more flexibility, and when more LNG is needed, the facilities are there."

According to Turkish energy watchdog's latest report, Turkey imported around 48 billion cubic meters of gas in 2015, out of which 5.15 percent was imported on the spot market

Qatar ranked first in this list with a 68.48 percent share.

Turkey's Salt Lake gas storage facility was officially opened on Feb. 10 with the attendance of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Salt Lake facility will increase Turkey's energy supply security as its storage capacity is set to increase from 1 billion cubic meters to as much as 5 billion cubic meters per year.

Additionally, Turkey's first ever floating storage re-gasification unit (FSRU) became operational in December 2016.

The FSRU, named the GDF Suez Neptune, has 145 thousand cubic meters of storage capacity and is expected to contribute to Turkey's output by producing more than 2.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year.