Turkey will continue purchasing natural gas from Russia, defying U.S. calls to halt energy imports from the country. Ankara emphasized that supply diversification remains a cornerstone of its energy policy but said ending existing contracts is not part of its current plans, CNN TÜRK reported, citing RBC-Ukraine on Thursday, October 2.
According to the report, during talks with U.S. officials, Washington suggested that Turkey cease cooperation with Russia on gas supplies. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar rejected the proposal, stressing the importance of ensuring uninterrupted gas delivery to citizens. Stable access to all available resources, he said, is essential for the nation’s energy security.
“We cannot tell our citizens, ‘We’ve run out of gas.’ To ensure supply security, we must maintain access to every resource without exception,” Bayraktar said.
Turkey has pursued a diversification policy for decades. The country has significantly expanded its LNG terminal capacity, enabling a sharp rise in liquefied natural gas imports from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Still, Russian gas remains critical to meeting peak winter demand.
Ankara plans to double natural gas output from its Black Sea fields by 2026, enough to meet the needs of millions of households. Despite favorable gas prices in the U.S.—around $103 per 1,000 cubic meters compared with over $400 in Europe—Turkey aims to leverage multiple supply channels to secure cost-effective rates.
The government’s supply-balancing strategy, combining imports from Russia, Azerbaijan, and other producers with increased domestic output, seeks to reduce reliance on single suppliers and bolster the nation’s energy security, the report said.
Earlier, Hungary signed a 10-year natural gas deal with British Shell. Budapest is also negotiating several additional contracts with Western suppliers but has yet to make them public.
Source: RBC-Ukraine via CNN TÜRK
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