Turkey halts Azeri natural gas exports to Greece

Turkey will halt natural gas sales to Greece and use all the gas transferred from Azerbaijan in the domestic market, news site ntvmsnbc reported Tuesday.

According to a top energy official, Turkey will stop selling Azeri natural gas totaling nearly 750 million cubic meters annually to Greece after deciding to use the supply for domestic consumption.

An agreement with Azerbaijan has been reached, according to the official.

"The final signatures will be put in the upcoming period," the official was quoted as saying by ntvmsnbc.

"After the signing, Turkey will continue to buy 6.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Azerbaijan but Turkey’s natural gas exports to Greece, active since 2008, will stop. Azerbaijan will directly sell this amount of natural gas to Greece."

According to the energy official, Azerbaijan aims to directly sell natural gas to Europe – something that will become possible with the agreement.

"When the signatures are completed, Azerbaijan will be able to export natural gas to Greece over Turkey’s pipelines. There is no need to wait. Turkey will take a transfer fee," the official said.


/Hurriyet Daily News/