Turkey's acquaintance with natural gas started with the import of natural gas from Russia in 1987 in order to meet the increasing energy demand of Turkey. At that time, the import, transmission and sale of natural gas was carried out by BOTAŞ.
Natural gas distribution activities were first started in Ankara in 1988. In 1992, natural gas was started to be used in Istanbul and Bursa, and in 1996 in Eskişehir and Kocaeli.
Among these natural gas distribution companies, those operating in Eskişehir and Bursa were structured as BOTAŞ's operating directorates. The distribution companies operating in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmit continued their activities as municipal subsidiaries.
Until 2001, the market structure continued within the vertically integrated structure of BOTAŞ, where import, transmission and sales activities were carried out from a single centre.
In 2001, the Natural Gas Market Law No. 4646 was enacted with the aim of liberalising the Turkish Natural Gas Market and replacing the vertically integrated structure of BOTAŞ with a new structure that ensures competition under free market conditions, encourages private sector investments, and aims to provide cheap and uninterrupted delivery of natural gas to final consumers.
Until 2001, there were 7 natural gas distribution companies operating in the natural gas distribution market. The comfort provided by its use in homes and its contribution to the prevention of air pollution have made the widespread use of natural gas a target.
In line with this objective, the Natural Gas Market Law No. 4646 aims to expand natural gas distribution activities through private sector investments by holding tenders for new natural gas distribution licences in cities. These investments, which could not be made with public resources, were successfully realised through natural gas distribution licence tenders held by EMRA in those years. As of today, there are a total of 72 natural gas distribution companies operating in 81 provinces of Turkey.
In addition, as stipulated in Law No. 4646, ESGAZ and BURSAGAZ natural gas distribution companies operating in Eskişehir and Bursa in 2004, İZGAZ operating in Kocaeli in 2009 and BAŞKENTGAZ operating in Ankara in 2013 were privatised and became private sector subsidiaries.
The natural gas distribution sector, which currently serves over 13.2 million subscribers, has realised a total network investment of over USD 7 billion as of the same year.
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