Turkish hub will help Russia increase gas exports, expert said

MOSCOW, 21 Feb – The Turkish gas hub will help Russia increase export supplies of pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Turkey and European countries, Alexander Amiragyan, director of the center for the economics of fuel and energy industries of the Center for Economic Development, said in an interview.
People first started talking about a Turkish gas hub in October 2022. Then – two weeks after the explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 underwater gas pipelines – Russian President Vladimir Putin put forward the idea of ​​​​relocating the lost volume of Russian gas supplies to the Black Sea region. According to him, it is possible to create a gas hub in Turkey, which would become a platform for export to other countries, primarily to Europe, as well as for determining gas prices.
“The creation of such a hub will help Russia export more gas – pipeline and liquefied – to Turkey and Europe,” the expert noted.
Firstly, this will allow maintaining the current volumes of gas supplies through Turkey to Europe, where it goes under long-term contracts to Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, the agency’s interlocutor specified.
However, for political reasons, Europeans may gradually reorient themselves to alternative suppliers, primarily due to the growth of LNG supplies to the coastal countries of the region and further supplies of network gas, the expert continued. “And the hub can depersonalize the purchased gas. This means that physically the gas may be from Russia, but legally it will be purchased at the hub, and its origin should not matter to the buyer,” he explained.
Secondly, Gazprom will be able not only to maintain, but also to increase gas pumping, Amiragyan added. Two pipeline systems go from Russia to Turkey – Blue Stream and Turkish Stream, but they are not fully loaded. The design capacity of the first is 16 billion cubic meters, the second – 31.5 billion cubic meters. “Russia exported about 34 billion cubic meters via these pipelines to Turkey and Europe in 2022. Thus, annual supplies can be increased by about 10–15 billion cubic meters,” the expert said.
“Also, the hub, if sanctions are imposed against Russian LNG in Europe, could become a partial solution by redirecting supply routes,” the agency’s interlocutor noted. According to him, Russian LNG can go to Turkey and then through pipelines to Europe.

Leave a Reply