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Türkiye continues to stress that Russia, Ukraine and all other parties should keep energy infrastructure out of their conflict and emphasizes that energy flows must continue uninterrupted, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Wednesday after a series of attacks off Türkiye’s Black Sea coast.
Speaking to a small group of journalists in Istanbul on Wednesday, Bayraktar said any disruption would hit global markets and people’s lives, noting that energy facilities had already been struck in both countries, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report said.
Ukraine, which is targeting Russia’s oil exports as Moscow bombards its power grid, has taken responsibility for an attack by seaborne drones on two empty tankers heading toward a Russian port last week. But it denied any link to another incident on Tuesday in which a Russian-flagged tanker loaded with sunflower oil said it had come under drone attack.
“Hopefully, this horrible war will end. But as of today also, we say to all the parties – Russia and Ukraine – to keep the energy infrastructure out of this war, because it’s part of people’s daily lives,” Bayraktar told journalists, according to multiple reports.
“We need to keep the energy flows uninterrupted,” he said, adding that routes like the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline should be kept safe.
Bayraktar said energy facilities had been repeatedly targeted throughout the conflict.
“We also know that Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was a main target, and vice versa with Ukraine attacking some energy facilities in Russia,” he said.
He said Türkiye wanted energy infrastructure to remain “out of this conflict,” adding: “We need to keep energy flows uninterrupted in the Black Sea, in our straits, as well as through the pipelines.”
Ankara, a NATO member that has kept warm relations with both Kyiv and Moscow during the war, has said the attacks on Russia-linked vessels near Türkiye are unacceptable and warned both sides, discussing the issue at a NATO meeting on Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded by threatening to sever Ukraine’s access to the sea and said Russia would intensify attacks on Kyiv’s facilities and vessels.
The attacks have sent Black Sea shipping insurance rates higher and prompted one Turkish company to halt Russia-related operations due to security concerns after one of its vessels was damaged near Senegal by external impacts. No one claimed responsibility.
The CPC pipeline, which carries over 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports and handles more than 1% of global supply, briefly halted operations on Saturday after a mooring at its Black Sea terminal near Russia’s Novorossiysk port was damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack.
Five industry sources later said Kazakhstan will divert more crude via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in December.
“According to the flow numbers in the BTC, there is no, let’s say, reduction. BTC is as of today supplying 600,000 to 700,000 barrels of oil to the global markets,” Bayraktar said.
Supply security
Bayraktar also said Ankara had been transparent with Washington about its supply needs and long-term contracts, as the U.S. urged the countries to cut off Russian supplies while seeking to exert pressure on the Kremlin’s revenues.
Türkiye began using natural gas in the late 1980s, and since then, Russia has been “a very reliable supplier,” Bayraktar explained, saying in “some years their market share was 60%. Last year it was around 40%.”
But he emphasized the need for a diversified supply portfolio, saying Türkiye “did not want to rely on one single country or company for a very high volume.”
“Security of supply is our number one priority.”
Ankara had shared its supply needs “very openly and transparently” with its counterparts in Washington and elsewhere.
“We need gas from Russia, we need gas from Iran, we need gas from Azerbaijan and plenty of other sources,” Bayraktar said.
Bayraktar said Türkiye is now focusing on short-term contract extensions and renewals.
“When I say short term, I mean one year. But we are looking for cheap, competitive and secure gas supply for the Turkish market,” he said.
Ukraine supply
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Ankara for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“The topic we had with Zelenskiy in the room was, of course, they asked us to help them for gas supply to Ukraine,” Bayraktar also said when asked about what was discussed during the meetings.
He said Ukraine had a similar arrangement with Greece, and added that Türkiye’s state energy company, BOTAŞ, and Ukraine’s Naftogaz were working on how Ankara could help Kyiv.
Bayraktar did not elaborate further, but said Ukraine had a “huge capacity” in underground storage, meaning it could store energy brought in cheaply during the summertime for the winter.
