Turkey is in talks with US energy giant ExxonMobil over a multibillion-dollar deal to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG), in an effort to curb its dependence on Russian energy, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The country is seeking to build a "new supply portfolio" that will make it less reliant on any single partner, Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the FT in an interview.
Turkey would secure up to 2.5 million tons of LNG a year through a long-term deal under discussion with Exxon, Bayraktar told FT.
The pact could last for a decade, he added.
Bayraktar said the commercial terms of the Exxon deal were still under discussion.
Turkey, which has little oil and gas, is highly dependent on imports from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as LNG from Algeria, Qatar, the United States and Nigeria.