23 November 2023; MEMO: Turkiye has signed an agreement to extend its liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with Algeria for three years, according to a report by Reuters yesterday. State energy firm Botas signed the agreement to extend its existing gas supply contract with Algerian state oil and gas company Sonatrach during an official visit to Algiers by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkiye, which has little oil and gas, “is highly dependent on imports from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as LNG from Algeria, Qatar, the United States and Nigeria,” said Reuters.
According to the Daily Sabah, twelve agreements across various fields were signed during Erdogan’s visit, which saw him and his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune co-chair the second meeting of the Turkiye-Algeria High-Level Cooperation Council.
Under the LNG deal, Turkiye will continue to import 4.4 billion cubic metres (bcm) of LNG from the North African country annually, as confirmed by Turkish energy minister, Alparslan Bayraktar.
The first gas supply contract was signed between the energy companies in 1988, with the current contract initially set to expire in October of next year. This has now been extended until 2027, confirmed the Turkish energy ministry.
“Last year, our trade volume reached a record of $5.3bn, and we expect it to reach $6bn by the end of this year,” said Erdogan after the signing ceremony. “With the efforts that we will boost, we hope to reach the target of $10bn in trade volume that we set with my brother President Tebboune in a short time.”
