Turkey plans to pour $1.2 bln in gas storage

The Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has allocated a budget of $1.2 billion for increasing its send-out capacity of natural gas storage in Silivri in a move to solve the country’s long-lasting storage problem in the sector.

The gas pumping capacity of the storage tank located on the European side of Istanbul, which currently stores 20 million cubic meters per day, will double by 2017 and reach 75 million cubic meters per day in 2019.

While speaking to reporters at the World Petroleum Congress in Moscow, the TPAO Acting President and Chief Executive Besim Şişman said the company is working to ramp up gas send-out capacity to avoid any gas shortages during the winter months.

In addition to increasing the existing capacity, the company is looking for new storage fields, Şişman said. There are few places in Thrace and in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır that we are considering, he added.

When asked about the possibility of partnering with two private companies, who have received their license from the country’s energy watchdog EPDK (Energy Market Regulatory Authority) for storing in the southern province of Mersin, Şişman said they would be willing to help if they were asked, but as of yet this has not been the case.

Also touching on Turkey’s intensified efforts to discover gas, Şişman said they are prioritizing searches in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

He also gave some details regarding gas exploration in Cyprus, where the Greek Cypriot government has discovered almost one trillion cubic meters of recoverable natural gas.

Şişman said the TPAO will act in coordination with the Foreign Ministry and the General Staff.
“As soon as the state...