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Turkey says approaching gas deal with Azerbaijan
Failure to agree terms for Azerbaijan's gas to cross Turkey could pose problems supplying the planned Nabucco pipeline, backed by the European Union, which aims to reduce Europe' reliance on gas imports from or via Russia.
Yıldız also said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that Turkey supported a seventh partner in the Nabucco pipeline project and that France's GDF Suez was a good candidate. Turkey had previously opposed French involvement.
Azerbaijan said earlier in the month that transit terms to Turkey were unacceptable and that it was looking at other routes for gas from its Shakh Deniz gas field when production starts on the next phase between 2013 and 2016.
Russia's South Stream pipeline is seen as a main rival to Nabucco. Russian energy company Gazprom has secured a deal to import a modest 500 million cubic meters of Azeri gas from next year but says it intends to increase volumes. "We think there are not a lot of issues holding up an agreement with Azerbaijan," said Yıldız, adding that the two countries had been speaking on prices and that talks have ‘come a long way.'
Ankara previously rejected French participation in the 7.9 billion euro ($11.83 billion) Nabucco project due to a dispute over a French bill that would have made it a crime to deny that the 1915 mass killings of Armenians was genocide.
A source told Reuters earlier in the month that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had expressed hope in a meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gül in Paris that GDF Suez would soon be able to take part.
Nabucco's current shareholders include Austria's OMV, Hungary's MOL, Romania's Transgaz, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz, Turkey's Botas and Germany's RWE.
Yıldız also said that Turkey planned to carry out its $3.5 billion natural gas development plans in Iran and that the issue would be discussed during Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan's upcoming trip to Tehran.
Iran has given state oil company Turkish Petroleum a one-month deadline to finalize the deal to develop part of the world's largest gas field in Iran, an industry source said on Monday.
The Turkish and Iranian governments agreed in July 2007 that Turkish Petroleum would produce an annual 20.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas from three development phases of Iran's South Pars gas field.
The deal has been delayed. Turkey's ally the United States opposes new energy deals in Iran as part of efforts to isolate Tehran over its nuclear program.
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