Turkey's natural gas market liberalization goal and Turkey - EU relations

Natural gas has become a product used in every area of our lives as an important energy commodity in today's world. Currently, 22% of global primary energy demand is met by natural gas. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that natural gas is available to consumers around the world at reasonable prices. Referring to Turkey's general energy balance, the share of natural gas in our country's primary energy demand is 10 points above the world average and appears to be 32%. Demand of our country, which consumed 15 billion cubic meters/year (bcma) in 2000, reached 50.3 bcma in 2018 and increased more than 3 times. It is concluded that natural gas demand of our country will continue to increase between 65 and 75 bcma in 2030 by keeping the increasing trend in the coming period in different scenarios based on many parameters. This situation reveals that natural gas will be one of the most important energy sources for our country in the future. Considering global trends, in order to ensure the development of our country's economy in terms of sustainable development principles, especially in order to avoid the middle income trap, the provision of continuous supply of natural gas at reasonable prices emerges as a sine qua non for our economy and energy security. The studies and steps to be taken to establish a natural gas trading center in our country are extremely important in this context.