The World's Cheapest Gas is in America

Minister Bayraktar answered Mehmet Akif Ersoy's questions about the agenda on Habertürk TV.

A firm standing

Stating that Türkiye and the USA have a serious potential in the field of energy and that there is a trade volume target of 100 billion dollars between the two countries, Bayraktar said that they signed agreements with the USA covering oil, natural gas and nuclear titles. Bayraktar noted that the agreements are down-to-earth texts that have been studied for a very long time, and underlined that Türkiye is a country with increasing energy demand.

It Will Grow 3 Fold

Emphasizing that Türkiye's energy demand will triple in 30 years with the most conservative estimate, Bayraktar stated that they saw that there would be an abundance in LNG in the world with the National Energy and Mining Policy in 2016, and that they invested heavily in natural gas infrastructure in this context.

Cheaper than Russia

Noting that the price of natural gas in the world is formed in 4 centers, the cheapest of which is in the USA, Bayraktar said, "The cheapest gas in the world is in the location in America called Henry Hub. The cheapest gas in the world is there. It's cheaper than Russia, cheaper than anywhere else," he said.

10 percent from the USA

Emphasizing that they started to buy natural gas from the USA after starting infrastructure investments in 2016, Bayraktar said, "With 2024 data, approximately 10 percent of the gas we currently use in Türkiye comes from America with ships as LNG."

The Most Competitive Gas Source

Bayraktar noted that they made short, medium and long-term LNG agreements with a total value of 43 billion dollars starting from September and said, "The USA extracts natural gas from a very cheap place and offers it to its own users. But we don't bring natural gas to Türkiye then. There are other cost items in between. First of all, you carry it to the port with pipelines. After that, you do a liquefication at the port, it also has a cost. Then you put it on board and bring it to Aliağa, Dörtyol or our ports in Türkiye with a transportation cost. Therefore, even when we reveal all these costs, American LNG is becoming one of our most competitive gas sources, especially after 2027.” said.

Time Is Needed

Mentioning that saying that natural gas purchased from the USA is expensive means not knowing the market, Bayraktar stated that Türkiye has its own unique realities, that time is needed in this sense and that they will import natural gas.

416 Reactors in 31 Countries

Emphasizing that the number of countries with nuclear technology, unlike natural gas, does not exceed the fingers of a hand, Bayraktar said, "There are 416 reactors in 31 countries in the world. 94 of them are in America. France covers 67 percent of its electricity from nuclear. Around 60 new reactors are being built," he said.

2050 Target

Bayraktar pointed out that they attach great importance to nuclear localization, and that they also care about human resource development while creating the model when making decisions, and said, "We need to reach an installed power of 15 thousand megawatts with a total of 12 reactors in Akkuyu, Sinop and Thrace. We need to reach 2050 with at least 5 thousand megawatts from Small Modular Reactors," he said.

Nuclear Agreement with the United States

Referring to the nuclear agreement signed with the USA, Bayraktar said, "We made a broad agreement on the use of small modular reactors, conventional reactors, the peaceful use of nuclear, as well as the use of nuclear in medicine, agriculture, industry and material sector."

External Financing

Bayraktar stated that there was a difficulty in financing in the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, that they wanted to commission the first reactor in 2026, and that the project could receive up to 49 percent of external financing, and said that the project could become more attractive in this way.

New Support Model

Reminding that they provided support to 86 million in electricity and natural gas bills with the pandemic, Bayraktar mentioned that there is a load of 600 billion liras on the treasury related to the supports. Bayraktar noted that they plan a consumption-based regulation similar to electricity in natural gas and stated that they will announce this model with the new year.

No Raise

Minister Bayraktar, on a question about whether there will be an increase in natural gas and electricity, said, "There is no increase. As we enter the winter, we do not consider an increase in electricity and natural gas," he replied.