Price of natural gas used in electricity production reduced

Prices of natural gas used in electricity production have been reduced, while gas prices for households have been kept unchanged for January.

The Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (Botaş) announced that the price of gas used was cut by 12.75 percent to 18,000 Turkish Liras/1,000 cubic meters.

The price of natural gas households consume was kept at 4,080 liras/1,000 cubic meters.

Gas prices for industrial users were set between 7,124 liras/1,000 cubic meters and 15,833 liras/1,000 cubic meters, Botaş said.

Prices of natural gas used by worship places and the cemevis, Alevi houses of worship were also reduced by 42.7 percent, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said.

Meanwhile, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) decided to reduce electricity prices for industrial users.

The regulators cut the price cap from 4,800 Turkish Liras/MWh to 4,2000 liras/MWh.

"This means around 16 percent reduction [in electricity prices] for industry," said Mustafa Yılmaz, the head of the EPDK.

The authority kept the electricity price tariff unchanged for households.
"Following this move on the price of electricity in the market, we expect the electricity cost for industrial enterprises to decline between 10 to 15 percent," Yılmaz said.

Yılmaz noted that previously price cap had been increased due to the higher cost of imported coal and natural gas. "This time around, the cap was lowered as the costs of those resources fell. The decline in the electricity price in the industry is important and a welcome development."

The EPDK will continue to keep a close eye on any future decline in the costs and incorporate those declines into the market prices, Yılmaz said, adding that if the decline in costs will remain, the...