Turkey in talks with ExxonMobil over multibillion-dollar LNG deal

April 28 (Reuters) – Turkey is in talks with US energy giant ExxonMobil over a multibillion-dollar deal to buy liquefied natural gas, in an effort to curb its dependence on Russian energy, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The country is seeking to build a “new supply portfolio” that will make it less reliant on any single partner, Turkey’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the FT in an interview.

Turkey would secure up to 2.5 million tonnes of LNG a year through a long-term deal under discussion with Exxon, Bayraktar told FT.

The pact could last for a decade, he added.

Bayraktar said the commercial terms of the Exxon deal were still under discussion.

Turkey’s reported deal with Exxon comes at a time when Russian exports to Europe are falling as Europe increases its LNG purchases from global producers to cut its imports of Russian pipeline gas in response to the conflict in Ukraine.

Russian exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe fell 1.9% to 15.8 million metric tons in 2023, according to LSEG data.

Turkey, which has little oil and gas, is highly dependent on imports from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as LNG from Algeria, Qatar, the United States and Nigeria.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)