Turkey’s natural gas imports decreased by 2% in November last year compared to the same month of 2020, data from the country’s energy watchdog revealed Tuesday.
Natural gas imports dropped to around 5.04 billion cubic meters (bcm) from approximately 5.15 bcm for the same month of 2020, Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) said in its monthly natural gas market report.
In November, the country imported 3.02 bcm of natural gas via pipelines, while 2.02 million cubic meters (mcm) was purchased as liquefied natural gas (LNG), EPDK’s data showed. This marked a decrease of 29.6% in pipeline imports but an increase of 135.1% in LNG imports.
Russia was Turkey’s top gas import destination, supplying 1.61 bcm of natural gas, while the United States and Iran followed with 833 mcm and 796 mcm, respectively.
Gas imports from Russia decreased by 33.6% in November, while imports from the U.S. and Iran increased by 100% and 0.7% respectively, compared to the same period of 2020.
The country’s total gas consumption also increased by 5.6% to approximately 4.86 bcm compared to the same month of 2020.
Household consumption grew by 6.9% to 1.23 bcm and the use of gas in power plants decreased by 3% to 1.58 bcm during the same period.
The natural gas volume in storage in November 2021 decreased by 18.5% to around 2.41 bcm compared to about 2.96 bcm in November 2020.
LNG imports up 3.4%
Meanwhile, LNG imports increased by 3.4% to 246,662 tons in November 2021 compared to the same month of 2020, according to the EPDK data.
The data showed that Turkey’s imports came from the U.S., Algeria, Greece, Kazakhstan, Libya and Russia.
Turkey’s LPG production in November 2021 increased to 94,535 tons, marking a year-over-year rise of 10.7%.
Exports also rose to around 21,013 tons in November last year, showing a jump of 91% compared to the same month of the previous year.
Total LPG sales in November 2021 decreased by 4% to around 308,259 tons, comprising 243,576 tons of autogas, 55,893 tons of bottled LPG and 8,789 tons of bulk LPG.