Yasar Arslan, President of the Turkish Natural Gas Distributors Association (GAZBIR), stated that Turkiye’s natural gas demand will increase next year and said, “I estimate that Turkiye’s natural gas demand in 2024 will be around 53 billion cubic meters.”
In his assessment to the AA correspondent regarding the 2024 expectations in the natural gas sector, Arslan said that Turkiye’s natural gas consumption this year may remain below the 56 billion cubic meters level announced by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) in January.
Stating that they have observed an increase of approximately 1 billion cubic meters every year in the consumption of heating purposes in residences as natural gas becomes more accessible throughout the country, Arslan stated that the natural gas consumption of residences is calculated as 16-17 billion cubic meters this year due to these effects.
Regarding the amount of natural gas that Turkiye will consume in the next year, Arslan said, “I estimate that Turkiye’s natural gas demand in 2024 will be around 53 billion cubic meters, with the reduction of the effects of the earthquake disaster, the effect of new consumers and the air temperatures remaining at seasonal norms compared to this year.”
Arslan emphasized that with the commissioning of the Sakarya Natural Gas Production Field, approximately 75 million cubic meters of production took place in the field in September, which corresponds to 68% of the total production. He stated that the target is to produce 10 million cubic meters of natural gas per day in phase-1 in 2023, 40 million cubic meters per day in phase-2 in 2025, and 60 million cubic meters per day in phase-3 in 2028.
An investment of ₺25 billion is expected in distribution infrastructure in 2024
Referring to the investments to be made in natural gas infrastructure in Turkiye next year, Arslan said, “We have an investment forecast of over ₺25 billion in 2024. With these investments, gas supply is planned for nearly 50 new settlements.”
Arslan also pointed out the growth in natural gas distribution infrastructure and noted that natural gas expansion investments, which have been continuing for 5-6 years under the coordination of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and EMRA, will continue increasingly in 2023.
Stating that the target of “90 new settlements” was exceeded this year despite the disruptions in the investment programs for 11 provinces in the region due to the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaras, Arslan informed that the number of settlements supplied with natural gas will exceed 830 by the end of the year.
Arslan stated that 72 natural gas distribution companies operating in 81 provinces invested more than ₺17 billion this year, and explained that additional network investments in the earthquake zone continue without slowing down.
Emphasizing that the total length of the distribution network will reach 200 thousand kilometers by the end of the year and that Turkiye will surpass Poland and become the country with the fourth longest network in Europe, Arslan said:
“With new investments, the opportunity to access natural gas increases every year. As of the end of 2023, 84% of Turkiye’s population has access to natural gas. In the last 10 years, an average of around 1 million new subscribers have been included in the system annually. More than 1 million new subscribers started using natural gas in 2023. With a total of 20.7 million subscribers, we have become the third largest industry in Europe.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz