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Volume 8, Issue 4 (Suppl) J Pet Environ Biotechnol, an open access journal
ISSN: 2157-7463 Oil Gas Expo 2017
July 13-14, 2017
Oil and Gas
July 13-14, 2017 Berlin, Germany
3rd International Conference and Expo on
Structuring a sustainable, fully competitive and liberal natural gas market in Turkey: The perception of
the Turkish private sector
Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu, Melike Demirbag Kaplan and Evrim Ozyorulmaz
Izmir University of Economics, Turkey
In Turkey, natural gas was first introduced in 1986. Following that, the use of natural gas has become rapidly widespread and started
to be used for electricity generation, residential heating and industry, together with the increasing energy needs resulting from
the rapid economic and population growth. Especially in the last 15 years, Turkey has become one of the leading countries with
fastest-growing natural gas demand. Over the last 30 years, Turkey’s annual natural gas consumption growth rate is 18%, tripling
its total energy consumption growth rate in the same period. However, it comes with a burden. The decision of increasing the use
of natural gas in Turkey makes it highly import dependent, 99%, decreasing the level of security of supply. Hence, Turkish natural
gas consumption has already reached to 4635 bcm as of the end of 2016 in Turkey, doubling the 2003 levels, representing 30% of
Turkey’s primary energy consumption. However, Turkey was not successful in establishing a liberal natural gas market. Turkish
Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) is responsible for almost 80% of the natural gas imports, much higher compared to private
sector’s share. In addition, it subsides the gas prices, preventing the formation of a competitive market. Requiring a fundamental
transformation of the natural gas market, Turkey is in the process of restructuring and liberalization. Therefore, during this process, it
is important to reveal the insights from the private sector players in the Turkish natural gas market related to the successful formation
and implementation of a sustainable, fully competitive and liberal natural gas market. Consequently, the primary aim of this study is
to gain insight into the private sector’s view related to the restructuring process of Turkish natural gas market, through a qualitative
inquiry, including an industry-wide survey and a SWOT analysis. This study reveals the internal and external factors, the degree of
importance of these factors for the future of the industry and the level of consistency between these assessments.
Figure: Pictorial explanation of market analysis of natural gas in Turkey
Biography
Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu is an Associate Professor of Energy Security and Policy in the Department of Political Science and International Relations and Head
of Sustainable Energy Division at Izmir University of Economics, Turkey. He is also acting as the Steering Committee Member of European Energy Research
Alliance’s (EERA) “e3s” Joint Program and the Head of Izmir Circle of Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly (ACIMEDIT). He has completed his PhD at IMT School for
Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy. He has received his MA in European Studies from Jean Monnet Center of Excellence at University of Turku, Finland and his BA in
Political Science and Public Administration from Bilkent University, Turkey. His research interest is in the area of energy security, energy policy analysis and energy
economics. He has published several articles in the leading journals such as Energy Policy, Renewable Energy, Energy and Energy Research & Social Science.
Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu et al., J Pet Environ Biotechnol 2017, 8:4 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2157-7463-C1-034