Egypt is a key supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Turkish market, with seven cargoes shipped in the fourth quarter of 2021 S&P Global said.

S&P data also showed that seven Egyptian LNG cargoes have shipped to Turkey since October, including 7.2 million mt/year shipped from Egypt’s Shell-operated Idku plant and 5 million mt/year shipped from Eni-operated Damietta facility.

“Turkey is set for record high gas demand in 2021, of as much as 60 Bcm on the back of strong consumption in the power sector. At the same time, Ankara is facing the prospect of more of its long-term import contracts expiring in the near future after deals with Azerbaijan for pipeline supplies and Nigeria for LNG already timed out in April and October, respectively,” S&P explained.

S&P pointed out that Turkey has a current long-term LNG contract with Algeria's state-owned Sonatrach, which is due to run until 2024.

“The new regular supply of LNG comes after Turkey and Egypt re-established formal diplomatic relations in early 2021,” S&P said.

In September, Egypt and Turkey agreed to continue engaging in exploratory talks between them after eight years of tensions.