Turkey will continue to buy natural gas from Iran in line with its long-term supply contract, Turkey’s energy minister said on Wednesday, despite the re-imposition of the first phase of US sanctions against Tehran on Tuesday.
Energy Minister Fatih Donmez told A Haber broadcaster that he expected Ankara’s talks with Washington on the issue to yield a positive outcome.
“A delegation of ours is in the United States right now and negotiations are being held on a series of matters including the sanctions issue,” he said.
“I think a good outcome will emerge from this dialogue.”
NATO member Turkey is dependent on imports for almost all of its energy needs and Iran is a key supplier of Ankara’s natural gas and oil purchases. While the Turkish refiner Tupras has already cut back on oil shipments from Tehran, a complete halt of energy imports would be near impossible.
Nearly 40 percent of Turkey’s electricity production is sourced with natural gas.
Donmez said Turkey’s long-term supply contract with Iran was valid until 2026 and Ankara was set to buy the 9.5 billion cubic meters of the contract amount.
“We will be continuing this trade as we can’t possibly leave our citizens in dark,” he said.
US President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program and said firms doing business with Tehran would be barred from the United States, as the US sanctions against Iran took effect on Tuesday.
The sanctions target Iran’s purchases of US dollars, metals trading, coal, industrial software and the auto sector and did not include Iran’s oil exports, but global oil prices rose on Tuesday in anticipation.
US sanctions on Iran’s energy sector are set to be re-imposed after a 180-day “wind-down period” ending on November 4.
“Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
