Reuters: Iran’s supply of natural gas to Turkey, halted this week, will resume on Monday at the latest, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday after talking to Iranian officials.
ANKARA, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Iran’s supply of natural gas to Turkey, halted this week, will resume on Monday at the latest, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday after talking to Iranian officials.
Tehran, one of Turkey’s main suppliers, has blamed the disruption on cold weather and a cut in Turkmen gas supplies.
Speaking to reporters in the capital Ankara, Erdogan said he had held talks with special representatives of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a bid to resolve the gas supply problem.
“(The Iranian officials) said that they will solve the problem by Monday at the latest,” Erdogan said.
He said necessary measures had been taken to cope with the supply cut and there were no current problems related to it.
A senior Turkish Energy Ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday Turkey had halted the flow of Azeri gas to Greece because of the suspension in Iranian supplies.
He said Turkey’s daily gas consumption had fallen to 124 million cubic metres (mcm) from 142 million as some gas-fired electricity producers switched to alternative fuel sources while others cut output.
On Wednesday the head of the Iranian national gas company, Reza Kasaizadeh, had promised supplies would be gradually increased. He did not specify when.
Ankara is strengthening energy ties with Iran and plans to invest billions in Iranian energy projects despite criticism from the United States.
Last week the flow from Iran fell to 4-5 million cubic metres a day from an agreed 30 million, after the halt in Turkmenistan gas supplies to Iran. Deliveries were cut off fully on Monday, according to Turkish officials. (Reporting by Hatice Aydogdu and Orhan Coskun, writing by Daren Butler)
