Tehran and Ankara are still in talks on resuming Iranian gas flows to Turkey, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said yesterday, adding that Turkey had no immediate plans to restore its gas flow to Greece.
Iran turned off its gas exports to Turkey on January 7, citing a domestic shortage and cold weather, triggering a domino effect as Turkey in turn shut off its exports to Greece through a newly opened pipeline.
“We are still in talks with Iran,” the Turkish minister said on the sidelines of a conference in Istanbul. “We do not need to turn the gas back on to Greece, because they don’t need it now.”
Iran says a cut in supplies from Turkmenistan has prompted Tehran to suspend its exports in order to meet demand at home amid freezing temperatures.
Iran had said earlier that it would restore its gas flow to Turkey by January 14, but after the deadline came and went Turkey is still buying liquefied natural gas from the spot market to meet demand at home. Russia’s Gazprom also has said it has increased its exports to Turkey to close the deficit.
Iran normally exports 30 million cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey per day, while it imports roughly 23 million cm daily from Turkmenistan.