Iran has suspended gas supplies to Turkiye for more than 10 days. According to the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), gas supply to Turkiye has been suspended for some technical reasons.
Since last week, the Turkish Ministry of Energy has been demanding that electricity and natural gas distributors reduce supplies by up to 60%, except for large consumers.
According to the latest official data, in the first ten months of 2021, Iran alone supplied 16 percent of Turkiye's natural gas needs. According to experts, Iran has warned the Turkish government to cut off natural gas supplies for 10 days.
It should be noted that energy prices in Turkiye have risen sharply as a result of global increases and the depreciation of the lira against the dollar by 44% last year. Electricity prices rose this month to 125% for high-demand commercial users and about 50% for low-demand households.
At present, Turkiye meets its thermal energy needs with gas imported from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. It is reported that the Turkish side is in talks to continue gas supplies.
Ednews spoke with Turkish economic expert Ibrahim Yumshak about the issue.
"Unfortunately, I must say that Turkiye has some problems in the field of energy, both in terms of production and supply. The government is also making great efforts in the political sphere to overcome such a problem. As for the main reason, I can say that recently Turkiye has reduced its gas consumption and started to prefer green energy, ie coal and hydroelectric resources. Another reason is the cut-off of gas from Iran. As you know, Turkiye mainly buys gas from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, and the recent increase in gas consumption has led to the suspension of gas from Iran. This first resulted in a 30/100 reduction in gas, and then a halt.
The expert also touched upon other reasons for what happened. He noted that so far, Iranian officials have stated that the gas suspension is for technical reasons only.
"In the past, there have been gas outages for some political reasons. Only Iran does not disclose it today. However, there are serious doubts that the cut was politically motivated. It is especially believed that Iran has changed its political stance after Iran's Reisi's visit in Moscow.
Ibrahim Yumshak also spoke about the future of gas from Iran and its impact on energy prices in Turkiye.
"Turkiye is currently negotiating for gas supplies. Iran has warned that gas supplies to Turkiye will be reduced by 40/100 and, if necessary, it will be directed to another supplying company. This is not a good sign for Turkiye. Such a situation can create problems internally, especially in the field of industrial production.
Elnur Enveroglu
