Gas in Turkey

Natural gas supplies over a quarter of Turkey's energy. The country consumes 50 to 60 billion cubic metres of natural gas each year, nearly all of which is imported. A large gas field in the Black Sea started production in 2023.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine began, several European countries stopped buying Russian oil or gas, but Turkey's relations with Russia are good enough that it continues to buy both. Turkey receives almost half of its gas from Russia. As of 2023^[update] wholesale gas is expensive and a large part of the import bill.

Households buy the most gas, followed by industry and power stations. Over 80% of the population has access to gas, and it supplies half the country's heating requirements. As the state-owned oil and gas wholesaler BOTAŞ has 80% of the gas market, the government can and does subsidize residential and industrial gas consumers. All industrial and commercial customers, and households using more than a certain amount of gas, can switch suppliers.

The General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration was formed in 1935, but very little gas was found. The most efficient way of importing gas is by pipeline from nearby countries, and the first imports were from Russia in 1986, followed by Iran. However, the pipeline from Azerbaijan only started transferring gas in 2007.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) was first imported from Algeria in 1994 and from Nigeria in 1999. In the early 21st century gas consumption increased. Between 2000 and 2020 the share of imported energy increased from just over 50% to 70%.

In 2019, the European Council objected to Turkish drilling in the eastern Mediterranean. In 2022, a gas shutoff by Iran caused problems for industry. Some analysts say that Turkey does not have enough gas storage or alternative supplies to resist pressure, and that when Russia says it is closing a gas pipeline for maintenance (for example a 10-day shutdown of Bluestream in 2022 at 2 days notice) this is sometimes intended to apply political pressure. In 2022, the increase in global gas prices increased the current account deficit as more gas was bought on the spot market.

Unlike several European countries, which stopped buying or were cut off from Russian oil or gas, after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations with Russia are such that Turkey continues to buy both. China and Turkey import the most gas from Russia. It is said to sometimes be difficult for media in Turkey to report fully on energy geopolitics. President Erdoğan said in 2022 that Turkey could not join sanctions on Russia because of import dependency.

Turkey's state-owned oil and gas exploration and production company TPAO hopes to explore for oil and gas in Libyan waters: a memorandum of understanding was agreed with Libya but later suspended by a Libyan court. Turkey opposes some gas exploration by the Republic of Cyprus because of the Cyprus–Turkey maritime zones dispute.