Turkey tucks into bargain US LNG
Russian pipeline imports are flexed lower in an effort to profit from LNG supply glut
Turkey cut its total pipeline imports by 3.55bn m³, or 18pc, to 16.15bn m³ in the first half of 2019, ramping up instead LNG deliveries as the Atlantic Basin bathed in a sea of plentiful supply and low prices. Russian pipeline imports—it also receives cross-border flows from Iran and Azerbaijan—took the most significant hit. Delivered volumes in the first half of the year were down by 4.5bn m³, or 36pc, to 8bn m³, leaving Russia supplying just 34pc of Turkey’s import requirements. In contrast, Russia took a 47pc slice of Turkey’s 50.35bn m³ 2018 import pie. Pipeline imports have lost out to LNG, with ship-borne volumes totalling almost 7.15bn m³ in the first half of 2019, up by 0.9bn m³ fr
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