Natural gas news could not come close to price increases
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the cost of natural gas required for cooking and hot water consumption, which corresponds to 25 cubic meters, will be reduced from bills for 1 year due to the introduction of Black Sea gas.
However, the discount that occurred before the elections did not come close to the strong increases of last year. While there was a 164 percent increase in residential natural gas last year, the discount announced yesterday is expected to contribute approximately TL120 to bills. On the other hand, while the discount is expected to be most effective in the summer months, its impact on next year’s high winter bills will be minimal.
ERDOĞAN DISCOUNT EXPLANATION
Speaking at the Black Sea Natural Gas Commissioning Ceremony at the Turkish Oil Port of Zonguldak Filyos yesterday, Erdoğan said: “We are giving our citizens the natural gas they use in their kitchens and hot water consumption for free. for a year. The cost of natural gas required for cooking and hot water consumption, which is equivalent to an average of 25 cubic meters per month, will be deducted from bills for one year.
Erdoğan also said: “We will not charge for the natural gas consumption of residences in the whole of Turkey for one month. That is, in addition to cooking and hot water, we make all natural gas consumption, including heating, free for a month.
HOW WILL IT AFFECT BILLS?
Consumers, for their part, began to wonder to what extent this discount would be reflected on their bills.
According to the price list on the IGDAS website, 25 cubic meters of natural gas cost 115 TL in Istanbul. In Ankara, this figure reaches 129 TL. As a result, a discount of between TL 115 and TL 130 is expected on natural gas bills.
However, the discount to be carried out did not relieve the pocket of consumers due to the strong increases in natural gas last year. In natural gas, last year there were a total of four increases in all types of subscribers.
In 2022, the natural gas housing rate increased by 25 percent on January 1, 35 percent on April 1, 30 percent on June 1, and 20.4 percent on September 1st. Thus, with four rises in natural gas in 2022, the housing rate has increased by 164 percent.
After the good news of the reserve in the Black Sea was given, a total of 11 increases in housing rates were made. Since the announcement of this good news in August 2020, the price of natural gas has risen by 226 percent.
In 2022, electricity in residences increased 3 times. This resulted in a 184 percent increase in bills. Thus, electricity and natural gas bills have increased more than 2.5 times in 2022.
Based on current prices, a family consuming 300 cubic meters of natural gas per month in Istanbul has to pay a bill of TL 1,389.
ELECTIVE RECOVERY BUDGET
On the other hand, it is thought that developments in the international natural gas market were also effective in this pre-election discount.
In January, it was revealed that Russia’s Pipeline and Petroleum Transportation Corporation (BOTAŞ) defaulted on its $20 billion natural gas debt. In the 2022 budget, capital expenditures and loan amounts were much lower than they should have been due to Russia’s deferral of BOTAŞ’s $20 billion debt to Russia.
Thus, Türkiye postponed the external deficit by postponing the debt to Russia. However, according to economists, this postponed amount may cause bigger problems for the 2023 budget after the election.