In the long term, natural gas has significant opportunities in global energy, but it has now become the subject of strong politicization by several countries. This was stated by the head of the Turkish Ministry of Energy, Alparslan Bayraktar, during a discussion at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum (SPGF), which takes place from October 8 to 11.
„Gas has great prospects in terms of the goals of reducing the carbon footprint, sustainable development and its more active use in industry. Therefore, in the future, more and more gas supplies will be needed on the market, but, unfortunately, not everything is so rosy in this matter. Yes, gas has always had a political basis, it has been a political factor. But now there are attacks on the gas infrastructure, it's getting kind of crazy. And imagine how the user feels in this situation”, said the minister.
Bayraktar stressed that especially “in Europe, countries are susceptible to such politicized sentiments”. on blue fuel issues. "Do national companies want to invest more in manufacturing? Do they want to put more gas on the market? After all, we are talking about building artificial barriers. And this will lead to increasingly difficult investment decisions. All these issues should be taken into consideration. And unfortunately, the politicization of the gas sector is only growing”, said the minister.
„We need to consider the future of natural gas wisely. Not only is security of supply compromised, but competitiveness is also uncertain. We also need to understand what signals we, as suppliers, are giving to the industrial sector. Is it security or uncertainty, confidence or lack thereof?“ - added Bayraktar.
SPIGF dates back to 2011. The last forum was held on October 31 – November 3, 2023. It attracted a record number of visitors - 20 thousand people from 53 countries. The exhibition area was 48 thousand square meters. m, 600 exhibitors participated in it.