Turkey looks to import gas from Turkmenistan, test exports to Bulgaria
Turkey and Turkmenistan are working on a gas deal that will likely extend to Europe in a bid to reduce Western dependency on Russian gas.
With fears mounting that Russia may cut off gas supplies to Europe, Turkey is working on plans to bring in gas from Turkmenistan and has started transiting gas to neighboring Bulgaria, which has already had its supplies of Russian gas cut.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay announced on June 2 that Ankara is exploring three alternative routes for transiting gas from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan and into the TANAP pipeline, which runs across Turkey to Greece.
Oktay did not explicitly state that the aim was to provide gas to Europe but with Turkey itself not facing any immediate gas shortages and European leaders actively courting Turkey and Caspian gas producers to increase flows in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the intention seems clear.
He gave few details on the projects themselves, describing them only as "a swap agreement" and "a combination of pipeline and ships" and said, "We are close to the end."
