ANKARA
The oil price drop in the last five months resulted in a reduction of some $6 billion to Turkish citizens, said Turkish energy minister Wednesday.
“There is no significant change in supply and demand in oil, but interestingly, prices are falling radically,” said Taner Yildiz in Ankara at his speech at the International Petroleum and Natural Gas Strategies Conference.
Turkey as a net importer of oil benefits from low oil prices. The prices fell from $114 to its lowest at $65 per barrel since June this year.
Yildiz said the world’s daily consumption is currently at 91 million barrels, and with an increase of around 600 to 700 thousand barrels, consumption is almost stable but it is meaningful that the prices are this low.
“Some reasons for this include the situation in Iraq with factors that threaten political stability, the Arab Spring’s consequences and sanctions on Iran. All of these influences have resulted in a reduction of four million barrels of oil consumption,” Yildiz said, and added that the U.S. with its boosted supplies ensures a supply of 91 million barrels per day globally, but demand is not significantly changed and yet interestingly prices continue to fall."
Yildiz said Turkey has tripled its Gross Domestic Product in 12 years whereas it has doubled its energy production capacity.
“Energy demand per capita in Turkey is increasing every day. Turkey currently has no problem with its supply security, but still has a lot do when it comes to energy. We will continue our efforts with my colleagues,” he said.
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