British oil major Shell has signed a 10-year LNG supply agreement with Turkish state energy company BOTAŞ.

The amount of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is estimated to be approximately 4 billion cubic meters (bcm) and will be delivered annually starting from 2027.

This deal will enable BOTAŞ to expand its LNG access and use its terminal and pipeline infrastructure to help Turkey diversify its gas resources and become a major regional gas hub.

“Our goal in natural gas, 99% of which we imported until the discovery of Black Sea Gas, is to diversify the supply side and offer natural gas to our citizens and industry at a more competitive and affordable rate,” said Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.

“In this context, we have strengthened our infrastructure with international pipelines, LNG terminals and underground storage projects,” he added.

Notably, BOTAŞ signed a 10-year LNG agreement with ExxonMobil in May, under which BOTAŞ will purchase up to 2.5 million tons per year (mtpa) of LNG from the US company.

According to Reuters, Turkey meets almost all of its consumption needs with imported gas and brought in 14.3 bcm of the 50.5 bcm that it consumed last year, in the form of LNG.