Türkiye working to become a global hub to set price of natural gas: Erdogan

With its initiatives in the energy sector, Türkiye aims to become a global hub for determining natural gas reference prices, the country's president has said.

"Our aim is to transform our country into a global centre where the natural gas reference price is determined as soon as possible," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday at a ceremony marking the completion of a project to expand a subterranean gas storage facility near Istanbul.

The country's northwestern region of Thrace bordering both Greece and Bulgaria will become an especially important hub for both natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) with the increasing capacity of LNG and underground gas storage, he added at the event in the district of Silivri.

Gas hub in Thrace

Erdogan said that Ankara was in contact with Moscow, a major natural gas producer and exporter, underlining that they would take the necessary steps to make Türkiye an energy hub.

The president also highlighted the importance of storage facilities during a period when European countries face the prospect of energy shortage. 

With its expansion, he said, the Silivri Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility is now the largest in Europe, with a capacity of 4.6 billion cubic metres.

Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had discussed how the countries work jointly on building a natural gas hub in Türkiye's Thrace region.

After talks with his Russian counterpart earlier this year, Erdogan had announced that Ankara and Moscow would work together on building a natural gas hub in Thrace after a proposal from Russia.

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