Erdogan Confirms Turkey’s Aspiration To Be an Energy Supply Hub

By telesurenglish.net,

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that his country aims to become a hub for supplies of energy products from the Mediterranean, Caspian and Middle East.

“We are determined to turn Turkey into an energy hub of the Caspian, Mediterranean and Middle East,” he said in an address to the nation after a meeting of the cabinet of ministers.

Erdogan had commented that Ankara could supply Russian and Turkmen gas to Europe. The Russian and Turkish presidents ordered to study in detail the possibility of creating such a facility (gas hub) in Turkey. For example, it could serve to redistribute Russian gas supplies from the damaged Nord Stream pipelines.

Meanwhile, Turkey is still working on creating the gas hub on its territory; the final decision could be made in 2023, Russian Vice-President Alexander Novak said. Unlike the Dutch benchmark (TTF), the market would determine the price of gas in such a hub.

European Union (EU) countries agreed on December 19 to create a mechanism for a gas market correction. The mechanism will operate when the one-month gas price at the TTF exceeds 180 euros per megawatt-hour (almost $2,000 per 1,000 cubic meters at the current exchange rate) for three days.

Last October 12, President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia could redirect the volume of gas it is now unable to supply through the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines to the Black Sea region, creating in Turkey a gas distribution hub for Europe, if partners are interested.

Erdogan then specified that the Turkish region of Thrace would be a suitable location for the future gas hub.