Turkey is a "natural bridge" between energy producers and consumers due to its geopolitical position, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

Erdogan, delivering an address in Istanbul to the 22nd World Petroleum Congress -- a major meeting of the international oil and gas industry -- said the country was being referred to the “Silk Road of energy”.
The Turkish president also said its external dependence on energy should be reduced to ensure sustainable development and the best use of its domestic resources.

Erdogan said in order to meet an energy demand which could double in the next 10 years, Turkey will include an additional 50,000 megawatts of additional power to its system by 2023.

On nuclear energy, Erdogan said Turkey had started accelerating its investments.

"When Akkuyu and Sinop nuclear power plants become operational, we will meet at least 10 percent of our energy needs from here," he said.

The Turkish president said the country wanted to start construction of the Sinop project "as soon as possible".

Turkey plans to build three nuclear power plants, the first at Akkuyu in Mersin province; the second at Sinop. The third plant's location has not yet been announced.

Erdogan said Turkey wanted its energy to be “a source of peace and welfare, not destruction, tension and dispute".

He also said the chaos and turmoil caused by terrorist organizations in the energy hinterlands made cooperation between countries a necessity.

"The security of energy resources depends on the elimination of terrorist organizations," he added.

Turkey is a key and safe harbor for energy investments, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak said during his speech in the 22nd World Petroleum Congress, Istanbul.

Albayrak said the oil and gas sector had and would continue to have an economic impact for decades to come and therefore, investments in this sector are required for the future of energy security. 

The minister hailed the rising popularity of renewable energy while asserting that coal continues to be a crucial energy resource along with oil, natural gas and nuclear power.

“As you all know, oil and gas investments decreased due to low prices. On the other hand, projections tell us that oil will meet around 15 percent of global energy needs in the near future,” Albayrak said.

He praised Turkey’s steps during the environment of low oil prices and said that despite rapid demand, growth in generation capacity tripled in the country. However, he warned that the continuation of security of supply remains critical.

“We ensured security of supply by providing sustainable market conditions and now we have begun focusing on oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea region,” he said, noting that Turkey consumes around 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

“Fifteen years ago we could provide gas only to five provinces, but now all 81 provinces in Turkey receive gas,” Albayrak said.

He added that in order to ensure gas supply security, Turkey had increased its LNG capacity and launched its first Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) in 2016.

“The second one will also become operational by the end of this year. Gas storage capacity is also critical for us. We plan to increase it as an emerging market with political stability also,” Albayrak stressed.

“Within this perspective, we introduce the motto ‘share for peace.’ Turkey is a reliable partner for energy projects. We will continue to support regional projects for supply security. Turkey is a key and safe harbor for investments – a reliable, regional actor and key for energy. The country is providing a stable, predictable environment for investments,” he also said.

Between July 9 and 13, high-level executives from leading energy companies and up to 50 energy ministers will be attending the congress, the theme of which is “Bridges to our Energy Future.”

In 2016, global energy investments neared $1.7 trillion, a 12 percent drop from 2015, according to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Investment 2017.

IEA divided the investment sectors into five categories; oil and gas, electricity, coal, energy efficiency, and renewable transport and heat.

The drop in investment is mainly due to “a fall of 26 percent in capital spending in upstream oil and gas resulting from lower oil prices and revenues since mid-2014," the IEA said.

As a result, the oil and gas sector lost its position as the largest recipient of investment to the electricity sector.

The oil and gas sector received $649 billion in investment in 2016. Upstream oil and gas spending totaled $434 billion while downstream and infrastructure investments totaled $215 billion.

Electricity Surpasses Fossil Fuels First Time Ever

The electricity sector edged ahead of the fossil fuel supply sector to become the largest recipient of energy investment in 2016 for the first time ever.

The electricity sector received $717 billion in support of which 61.4 percent went to power generation while 38.6 percent was spent for electricity networks.

Power generation investment in 2016 amounted to $440 billion. Coal, gas and oil generation received $117 billion, nuclear acquired $26 billion and renewables were given $297 billion in capital spending.
Global electricity networks investment reached $277 billion in 2016.

Coal mining and infrastructure investment amounted to $59 billion, or 3.5 percent of total energy investments.

Last year, $231 billion, or 13.8 percent, was invested into energy efficiency.

"The buildings sector is not only the largest sector for energy efficiency investment, at $133 billion, but it also contributed most of the increase in overall energy efficiency investment worldwide in 2016," the IEA said.

In 2016, $19 billion was spent to increase renewables' use in transport and heat.

Source : iea.org

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