Domestic natural gas prices in Turkey are to remain unchanged at the moment, but gas prices may rise in future depending on oil prices, Turkish Energy Minister Ali Riza Alaboyun said Monday.
"Due to low oil prices, there is no rise in natural gas prices for now. However, if oil prices climb too high, gas prices could be affected," he said in a press conference at Nevsehir in central Turkey.
Like most countries in the world, natural gas prices are fixed to oil prices in Turkey. Since oil prices have fallen around 60 percent since mid-2014, gas prices around the world have also decreased during that period.
"Price of natural gas is determined by the market conditions. We buy natural gas within a certain framework from gas exporting countries. Gas prices are determined periodically, every three months," Alaboyun explained.
- Boron in Turkey
The energy minister also talked about the importance of boron, a chemical element which Turkey has the world's biggest proven reserves.
"There are two million tons of boron used in the world today, and Turkey produces 70 percent of that amount," Alaboyun said during his visit to a factory of Boren Bor Optik in Acigol's organized industrial zone.
Boron is used as a material in more than 250 fields, such as telecommunications, transportation, and nanotechnology in various industries including the health, scientific and defense sectors as well as space technologies.
Noting that boron is also used in glass materials and solid fuels of rockets, Alaboyun said "It can help rockets to reach a higher trajectory, faster. We can also produce batteries by using boron. In fact, we used that battery in our unmanned aerial vehicle, and flew it four hours longer."
"Boron is also used in producing armor plates due to its strong resistance against piercing objects. Boron carbide is very hard material, close to diamond," he added.
- Precautions taken for elections
The energy minister reiterated that precautions against electricity failures and shortages are taken nationwide for Turkey's general elections this coming Sunday.
"There are more blackouts during summer since Turkey's energy consumption is higher. However, there are no electricity shortages in winter except planned maintenance. Turkey has around 1.2 million kilometers-long distribution power lines. Most of them are taken care by maintenance companies," he said.
"We have teams with helicopters that can respond fast to malfunctions and failures. We also have a live maintenance method where our teams can work safely on 400,000 volts lines," the energy minister added.
- Energy efficiency
Alaboyun also visited a local school where he informed young students about energy efficiency.
"Let's encourage our families to use appliances that have high energy efficiency. If we can use energy efficiently, we can save energy two times the Keban hydropower dam produces every year. Therefore, we don't have to build two additional dams," he explained.
Writing by Ovunc Kutlu
Reporting by Murat Kaya, Behçet Alkan
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr