Maintenance works on the gas pipeline from Iran and Turkey will last for 1.5-2 months, instead of shade more than three weeks, earlier announced by Botas, Report informs, citing EADaily.
"The full maintenance on the Iran-Turkey natural gas pipe has now been delayed until 6-29 July," ICIS analyst Tom Marzec-Manser wrote on Twitter.
It is not the first time that Iranian gas supplies are suspended for an extended period. Last year, gas imports to Turkey were halted for three months due to an explosion near the gas pipe.
At that time, Turkish officials told S&P Global Platts that Ankara was using the situation to put pressure on Tehran to reduce gas prices. In the spring of 2020, LNG prices hit their lowest level, while Iranian gas was still supplied on time lag-linked price formula. Therefore, it was easier for Turkey not to receive Iranian gas at all under a plausible pretext. As a result, in 2020, Iranian gas supplies fell by 31%, to 5.2 billion cubic meters.
Yesterday, the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) head, Hassan Montazer Torbati, told ILNA that Tehran and Ankara are in talks to renew the gas contract. He said that the parties are ready to allow private companies to supply, and Iran is ready to receive electricity partially as payment. The head of NIGC said nothing about the gas price.
However, Turkey has already demonstrated that it will conclude new gas contracts on attractive terms even with its closest ally - Azerbaijan. So, Botas's long-term contract with BP-Azerbaijan, the Shah Deniz 1 project operator, for the annual supply of 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas expired, and fuel supplies via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline were halted on April 17.
According to ICIS analyst Tom Marzec-Manser, a three-year contract for the supply of 1.5 million tons (2 billion cubic meters) of LNG from Qatar annually has expired this year, and it was not renewed either. Agreements with Gazprom for 8 billion cubic meters and Nigeria for 2 billion cubic meters also expire this year.
Last year, Turkey discovered gas reserves in the Black Sea, which it intends to start producing from 2023, and Ankara has warned that it will demand more comfortable conditions.
In May, gas consumption fell to its lowest level, according to EPIAS. Daily supplies dropped to 83 million cubic meters per day, while in winter, they fixed a record 293 million cubic meters.
FNEB Deputy Director Aleksey Grivach noted that Ankara's position is linked, among other things, to the systemic problems in the Turkish gas market. "Due to the devaluation, the supply of imported gas to the domestic market regularly requires subsidies," the expert noted, pointing out that Turkey wants to shift this burden or at least part of it onto external suppliers.