Istanbul (Platts)--21Dec2012/1058 am EST/1558 GMT

Turkey wants to extend its current LNG import contract with Algeria, which ends in 2014, and to increase the volume it imports, a spokesman for Turkey's energy ministry said Friday.

The spokesman confirmed that Turkey wants to both extend the existing contract by between five and 10 years, and to increase the volume of LNG it imports under the contract from the current 4.4 billion cubic meters/year to 6 Bcm/year.

Turkey's state-owned gas importer Botas has already reached an agreement with Algeria to import up to 2.5 Bcm of spot LNG in addition to its ongoing contract, the spokesman added.

Turkey imports LNG from Algeria under a 20-year contract that was signed in 1988 and became active in 1994, and up to 1.2 Bcm/year from Nigeria under a 22-year contract signed in 1995.

In addition, earlier this year Turkey signed a contract with Qatar guaranteeing it volumes of spot LNG, the details of which have not been made public.

Botas imports LNG through its own Marmara Eregli import terminal, and the Aliaga terminal owned and operated by Turkey's Egegaz, which also imports LNG.

Neither terminal allows other third-party access.

Turkish gas demand is this year expected to reach 48 Bcm/year rising to 50 Bcm/year next year, close to its total import portfolio of 51.8 Bcm/year and local production of less than 1 Bcm/year.

Following gas shortages experienced last winter due to simultaneous cuts in supply from two of Turkey's pipeline suppliers, Azerbaijan and Iran, Turkish officials have been trying to increase the country's supply options.

Turkey's energy ministry last month announced that it was authorizing Botas to import up to 6 Bcm/year of spot LNG, albeit with the caveat that it did not anticipate Botas importing more than 2.5 Bcm over the coming year.

In addition, talks are believed to have started with Russia's Gazprom over the possible expansion of the 16 Bcm/year Blue Stream pipeline to 19 Bcm/year, and over the possible expansion of the capacity of the 14 Bcm/year western import lines, also known as the Transbalkan I and II pipelines.

However, officials have declined to comment on reports from the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq suggesting that gas from the region may be exported to Turkey within the next two to three years following the construction of planned pipeline line to southeast Turkey.

--David O'Byrne, newsdesk@platts.com --Edited by Alisdair Bowles, alisdair_bowles@platts.com