10 March 2022; MEMO: Turkey will continue to buy Russian oil and gas, the country's Deputy Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said yesterday.
Ankara relies on Russia for 45 per cent of its demand for natural gas, 17 per cent for oil and 40 per cent for gasoline, Bayraktar explained.
"The world needs more oil. It should come from somewhere, from the US, from Venezuela, from Iran, Saudi Arabia, or from anywhere we want," he noted.
Bayraktar pointed out that Turkey cannot easily replace its Russian oil supplies from other places, stressing that it is an "old reliable supplier."
Turkey had previously imported about 200,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude before Washington withdrew from the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran in 2018.
"Suddenly we went down to zero [supply from Iran stopped]. Now we cannot have another supply disruption, this time in Russia."
Turkey hopes that Washington and Tehran will reach an agreement soon that will bring Iran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. Talks have been ongoing for nearly a year to restore the agreement that lifted sanctions on Iran.
"I hope this Iranian issue will be resolved soon," Bayrakdar noted.
