Turkey has moved closer to implementing the international gas hub project on its territory, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar shared over the weekend in an interview on A Haber television channel.
"We are very close to the goal of creating a gas hub. We have taken serious steps in this direction. We are ready in terms of infrastructure," he said.
In October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed establishing an international gas hub in Turkey to transit Russian gas that was being transported through the Nord Stream pipeline. Turkey stated that almost everything was ready to start the project in terms of infrastructure.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak informed at the end of December 2023 that the project to build a gas hub in Turkey could begin to be implemented in 2024.
According to Reuters, Russia sees the gas hub in Turkey as a way to reroute its gas exports after losing the European market. Russia hopes to sell a portion of its gas through Turkey to countries that do not want to buy directly from Russia.
Currently, Russia supplies gas to Turkey through the gas pipelines Blue Stream and TurkStream that pass through the Black Sea. Russian gas passing through TurkStream is also exported to Southern and Eastern Europe, including Hungary, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Serbia.
Turkey is a NATO member but has good relations with Russia. Currently, Turkey imports almost all the gas it consumes and has extensive infrastructure for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG). Ankara believes it can leverage existing and upcoming trade relationships to become an international gas hub.
