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Turkey, Once a Major Importer of Iranian Oil, Turns Towards Libya
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Turkey-once-a-Major-Importer-of-Iranian-Oil-Turns-Towards-Libya.html
By John Daly | Tue, 19 June 2012 00:23 | 0
Benefit From the Latest Energy Trends and Investment Opportunities
before the mainstream media and investing public are aware they even
exist. The Free Oilprice.com Energy Intelligence Report gives you this
and much more. Click here to find out more.
.What a difference international sanctions and intense U.S. pressure make.
Turkey in March imported more than 270,000 barrels per day of oil from
Iran, nearly triple the previous month's 100,000 bpd, or 401,349 tons,
according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.
And now? Turkey sought a waiver from U.S. sanctions against Iran and
received a temporary one, along with India, Malaysia, South Africa,
South Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. Notably China, which buys as much
as a fifth of Iran's crude exports and Singapore did not receive
exemptions.
Scrambling to make up the looming energy deficit, Turkey has begun
talks with Saudi Arabia to make up any shortfalls caused by obeying
the sanctions and on 16 June Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz
announced that his government had signed a one million ton oil supply
deal with Libya.
But in trading out Iran for Libya and Saudi Arabia, Turkey has swapped
relative political stability for uncertainty. Whatever one thinks of
the mullahcracy ruling Iran, it has been in power since 1979.
Post-Gaddafi Libya is hardly a stable state as yet, with tensions
between the eastern part of the country, which controls much of the
nation's oil output, rising with the authorities in Tripoli.
And the recent death of Saudi Crown Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz at 78
years old may herald a period of instability for the nation. Saudi
Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz is 88 years old, and has now
outlived two appointed successors from among the elderly group of sons
of Saudi's founding monarch, King Abdul-Aziz, in a country where more
than half the current population is under 25 years old.
And in the meantime, Turkey, which for the past decade has imported 93
percent of the oil and 98 percent of the natural gas it consumes, is
beating the regional bushes to secure imports wherever it can.
On 7 June State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Vice President
Suleyman Gasimov stated that his nation would proceed with the
Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) construction project, which could
boost Azeri investments in Turkey to more than $17 billion, building
upon last year's momentum, when Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a
memorandum of understanding to establish the consortium that will
build the 1,240-mile long TANAP, estimated to cost $5-$7 billion to
supply gas from Azerbaijan's offshore Caspian Shah Deniz natural gas
fields westwards through Turkey to Europe.
Another possible regional option is Iraq, where Turkey is exploring
possible oil export deals with the Kurdish Regional Government,
despite the fact that the outlawed separatist Marxist Partiya Karkeren
Kurdistan (Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK) has been battling the
Turkish government from bases there since 1984.
But, not to worry. Turkey's troubling energy deficits in the future
are to be met by - nuclear energy. Addressing a "New Energy Corridor"
panel discussion as part of the World Economic Forum on 14 June in
Istanbul, Yildiz told his audience, `We are a country without a
nuclear power plant. However, we are determined to have nuclear power
plants. We want to meet our increasing energy needs by erecting at
least 23 nuclear units by the year 2023. This implies building nuclear
power plants in three regions of Turkey.'
And the crown piece of Turkey's investment in nuclear power is to be
its first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, which Yildiz has proclaimed
is moving forward despite public opposition.
Russia's Atomenergoproekt has announced that engineering surveys at
the Akkuyu NPP site on Turkey's southern Mediterranean coast are due
to be completed later this year. Four 1,200 MWe VVER-1200 reactors are
planned for Akkuyu under a 2010 agreement between the governments of
Russia and Turkey. Akkuyu's four units are to come online in 2019-22.
The Akkuyu NPP would be situated in a region subject to earthquakes.
On 27 June 1998, a major earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale
occurred in nearby Adana, which damaged 74,300 buildings, killed 150,
injured 1,000 and caused damage estimated at $1 billion. Research has
determined that an active fault line, the Ecemis fault, runs close to
the Akkuyu site.
In the wake of the 11 March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster, Turkey's
governmental decision seems at the very least rash.
But we still leave the last word to the International Medical Corps,
which dispatches personnel to disaster zones around the world.
Speaking of Turkey the IMC observed, `Turkey frequently experiences
seismic activity and authorities have significant capacity to manage
disasters.' As regards Fukushima, `An International Medical Corps
emergency response team was on-the-ground within 48 hours of the
disaster, assessing needs and coordinating with the Japanese
government.'
Fifteen months later, they're still there.
By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com
From: Baghdasarian
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Turkey-once-a-Major-Importer-of-Iranian-Oil-Turns-Towards-Libya.html
By John Daly | Tue, 19 June 2012 00:23 | 0
Benefit From the Latest Energy Trends and Investment Opportunities
before the mainstream media and investing public are aware they even
exist. The Free Oilprice.com Energy Intelligence Report gives you this
and much more. Click here to find out more.
.What a difference international sanctions and intense U.S. pressure make.
Turkey in March imported more than 270,000 barrels per day of oil from
Iran, nearly triple the previous month's 100,000 bpd, or 401,349 tons,
according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.
And now? Turkey sought a waiver from U.S. sanctions against Iran and
received a temporary one, along with India, Malaysia, South Africa,
South Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. Notably China, which buys as much
as a fifth of Iran's crude exports and Singapore did not receive
exemptions.
Scrambling to make up the looming energy deficit, Turkey has begun
talks with Saudi Arabia to make up any shortfalls caused by obeying
the sanctions and on 16 June Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz
announced that his government had signed a one million ton oil supply
deal with Libya.
But in trading out Iran for Libya and Saudi Arabia, Turkey has swapped
relative political stability for uncertainty. Whatever one thinks of
the mullahcracy ruling Iran, it has been in power since 1979.
Post-Gaddafi Libya is hardly a stable state as yet, with tensions
between the eastern part of the country, which controls much of the
nation's oil output, rising with the authorities in Tripoli.
And the recent death of Saudi Crown Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz at 78
years old may herald a period of instability for the nation. Saudi
Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz is 88 years old, and has now
outlived two appointed successors from among the elderly group of sons
of Saudi's founding monarch, King Abdul-Aziz, in a country where more
than half the current population is under 25 years old.
And in the meantime, Turkey, which for the past decade has imported 93
percent of the oil and 98 percent of the natural gas it consumes, is
beating the regional bushes to secure imports wherever it can.
On 7 June State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Vice President
Suleyman Gasimov stated that his nation would proceed with the
Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) construction project, which could
boost Azeri investments in Turkey to more than $17 billion, building
upon last year's momentum, when Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a
memorandum of understanding to establish the consortium that will
build the 1,240-mile long TANAP, estimated to cost $5-$7 billion to
supply gas from Azerbaijan's offshore Caspian Shah Deniz natural gas
fields westwards through Turkey to Europe.
Another possible regional option is Iraq, where Turkey is exploring
possible oil export deals with the Kurdish Regional Government,
despite the fact that the outlawed separatist Marxist Partiya Karkeren
Kurdistan (Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK) has been battling the
Turkish government from bases there since 1984.
But, not to worry. Turkey's troubling energy deficits in the future
are to be met by - nuclear energy. Addressing a "New Energy Corridor"
panel discussion as part of the World Economic Forum on 14 June in
Istanbul, Yildiz told his audience, `We are a country without a
nuclear power plant. However, we are determined to have nuclear power
plants. We want to meet our increasing energy needs by erecting at
least 23 nuclear units by the year 2023. This implies building nuclear
power plants in three regions of Turkey.'
And the crown piece of Turkey's investment in nuclear power is to be
its first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, which Yildiz has proclaimed
is moving forward despite public opposition.
Russia's Atomenergoproekt has announced that engineering surveys at
the Akkuyu NPP site on Turkey's southern Mediterranean coast are due
to be completed later this year. Four 1,200 MWe VVER-1200 reactors are
planned for Akkuyu under a 2010 agreement between the governments of
Russia and Turkey. Akkuyu's four units are to come online in 2019-22.
The Akkuyu NPP would be situated in a region subject to earthquakes.
On 27 June 1998, a major earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale
occurred in nearby Adana, which damaged 74,300 buildings, killed 150,
injured 1,000 and caused damage estimated at $1 billion. Research has
determined that an active fault line, the Ecemis fault, runs close to
the Akkuyu site.
In the wake of the 11 March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster, Turkey's
governmental decision seems at the very least rash.
But we still leave the last word to the International Medical Corps,
which dispatches personnel to disaster zones around the world.
Speaking of Turkey the IMC observed, `Turkey frequently experiences
seismic activity and authorities have significant capacity to manage
disasters.' As regards Fukushima, `An International Medical Corps
emergency response team was on-the-ground within 48 hours of the
disaster, assessing needs and coordinating with the Japanese
government.'
Fifteen months later, they're still there.
By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com
From: Baghdasarian