Turkiye quietly renews Russian gas deals despite Western pressure

“State-owned BOTAS has signed a contract with Russia’s Gazprom,” said Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.

“It will continue receiving supplies next year. But we are now focused on shorter-term agreements… for example, one-year deals.”

Turkiye remains Russia’s last major natural gas market in Europe. Although Ankara is gradually reducing its reliance on Russian gas — now below 40% of the national supply — both Gazprom contracts were set to expire at the end of the year.

At the same time, Turkiye has signed several long-term LNG purchase agreements, much of it expected to come from the United States, taking advantage of a projected global LNG supply surplus in the coming years.

Bayraktar added that Turkiye is also in talks with Iran to renew a 10 billion–cubic-meter gas contract expiring next July. Negotiations also include increasing volumes of Turkmen gas transiting through Iran.

“We would like to boost Turkmen gas volumes received under swap arrangements,” he said, adding that Turkiye signed a one-year deal with Turkmenistan for 1.3 billion cubic meters via Iran this year — though actual imports so far total only around 0.5 billion cubic meters.

Turkish authorities also plan to invest in U.S. gas extraction capacity to secure supply for as many as 1,500 LNG cargoes expected under long-term purchase agreements over the next 15 years, Bayraktar said.

Earlier reports indicated Turkiye could meet more than 50% of its natural gas needs by 2028 thanks to domestic production and expanded U.S. LNG imports.

Ankara has already signed $43 billion worth of LNG contracts with U.S. suppliers, including a 20-year deal with Mercuria in September. Turkish LNG terminal capacity now stands at 58 billion cubic meters per year.

Russia and Turkiye have been negotiating to maintain Gazprom’s export volumes, with agreements covering up to 21.75 billion cubic meters per year set to expire on Dec. 31.

Last year, Gazprom supplied Turkiye with 21.6 billion cubic meters — making it the second-largest buyer of Russian pipeline gas after China, according to Bloomberg estimates. These volumes significantly supported Gazprom’s financial results.

Turkiye now receives Russian gas through the Blue Stream and TurkStream pipelines.

Turkiye imported 52 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2024 in total.