Turkey aims to position itself as a virtual gas trading point (VTP) for the spot gas market under the title "Istanbul Benchmark".
Turkish aspirations to get many countries' natural gas priced as "Istanbul Benchmark" will pave the way for better gas-to-gas competition or any liquidity in the region.
Caner Can, the energy advisor to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is of the opinion that Turkey's strong natural gas infrastructure is improving with the additional investments.
Regarding Turkey's goal of becoming a gas trading hub, Can notes in his personal Twitter account that Turkey's gas storage capacity will be three times higher by the end of 2023.
The average gas price on the main trading floor of Europe - Dutch TTF - has amounted to $225-$227 per 1,000 cubic meters since the beginning of February, compared to $257 on average in January.
Notably, Natural gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is transported to the Turkish market via the South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) and TANAP. The first gas entered the Turkish market via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline in 2007. The supply of commercial gas to Turkey via TANAP began on June 30, 2018.