Turkey’s top two gas suppliers, Russia and Iran, both supplied considerably lower volumes in the first six months of 2018 versus a year earlier. But, whilst piped gas imports from neighboring countries fell 11.5% year-on-year, those of LNG have soared. LNG accounted for a record 24% of Turkey’s gas imports in 1H 2018 as volumes from Qatar rose fourfold to rival Algeria as top supplier.

Russia’s gas shipments to Turkey fell by 12% year-on-year to 12.6bcm for the first half of 2018, putting the country’s market share below 50% for the first time since 2010. Overall Turkish gas imports were down 6.8% year-on-year in 1H 2018, though this year is still on track to be second only to 2017’s record volumes. Last year’s biggest winners were Russia and Iran, which saw volumes jump 20% to a record 9.25bcm (see table), but both are suffering in 2018. (CONTINUED - 905 WORDS)