Turkey's natural gas imports increased by 32.1% in November 2020 compared to the same month of 2019, according to Turkish energy watchdog's data on Wednesday.
Natural gas imports increased to around 5.1 billion cubic meters (bcm) in November last year, from approximately 3.9 bcm for the same month of 2019, Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) said in its monthly natural gas market report.
In November 2020, the country imported 4.3 bcm of natural gas via pipelines, while 862 million cubic meters (mcm) was purchased as LNG, EMRA's data showed. This marked an increase in pipeline gas imports of 52.5% while LNG imports reduced by 20.7%.
Russia was Turkey's top gas import destination, supplying 2.43 bcm of natural gas while Azerbaijan and Iran followed with 1.06 bcm and 790 mcm, respectively.
In November, Turkey's gas imports from Russia and Azerbaijan grew by 123% and 23.4%, respectively while imports from Iran dropped by 8% compared to the same period of 2019.
- Consumption up 33%
Turkey's total gas consumption increased by 33% to approximately 4.61 bcm in November 2020 from around 3.46 bcm in November 2019.
Household consumption increased by 49% to reach 1.1 bcm while the use of gas in power plants increased by 59% to 1.46 bcm during the same period. The growth in the volume of natural gas consumed by power plants and households was among the main factors leading to an increase in total gas consumption and imports.
The amount of natural gas in storage in November decreased by 14.2% to around 2.96 bcm compared to about 3.45 bcm in November last year.
By Nuran Erkul Kaya
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr