Türkiye inks long-term LNG deal with ExxonMobil in US

Türkiye's state pipeline operator BOTAŞ and U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil inked a cooperation deal on liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade, the Turkish energy minister said Wednesday, in a bid to diversify resources, News.Az reports citing Daily Sabah.

"The U.S. is already one of our important suppliers of LNG," Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

"With this agreement, which is planned to be long-term, we will take another step toward diversifying our resources," he said, adding that the deal was signed in Washington.

The minister said he arrived in the U.S. capital for various talks.

Bayraktar did not provide any additional details on the deal, and the Energy Ministry was not immediately available to comment on Reuters.

"We are among the few countries in the world with our gasification capacity. We will continue to contribute to the energy supply security of both our country and our region," Bayraktar added.

The minister said last month that Türkiye was in talks with ExxonMobil on a more than $1 billion (TL 32.25 billion) deal to buy LNG.

Bayraktar said in an interview that negotiations were ongoing with ExxonMobil for 2.5 million tons of LNG, valued at around $1.1 billion. He added that the deal could last 10 years.

The minister said separately in a post on Thursday that he met U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in Washington and that an energy and climate program between the two countries was initiated.

"We initiated the Energy and Climate Dialogue Program between our countries and held its first meeting. We hope that the program will bring together public and private sector representatives and serve as a productive platform for all stakeholders," Bayraktar wrote on X.

"During our meeting, we also evaluated many topics such as natural gas, renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear energy and critical minerals," he added.

Türkiye has seven international natural gas pipelines, five LNG facilities, including three floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) and two underground natural gas storage facilities.

The country aims to become a key gas hub in the region, excel as an exporter and effectively manage the gas it provides.

News.Az