Turkey expects gas suppliers to offer more competitive prices and show flexibility if they want to renew long-term contracts totaling 16 billion cubic meters per year, Reuters reported, citing a senior official from the country's energy ministry.

More than a quarter of Turkey's long-term gas supply contracts expire next year, including contracts with Russian Gazprom, Azerbaijani SOCAR, and a deal for the supply of liquefied natural gas with Nigeria.

As a representative of the Turkish Energy Ministry told reporters, cooperation with the American company LNG and the opportunity for Turkey to engage in its own gas production in the Black Sea have changed the dynamics of the market.

Old-fashioned gas contracts, which are often indexed to oil prices and impose penalties on buyers if they refuse to buy the entire quota, are no longer in line with market realities, a ministry official said, noting that prices should be set against those in large gas nodes.

“We started to discuss whether we are going to renew (or)whether we are going to find an alternative supply,” an anonymous source told reporters.

He noted that this decision will depend on whether the suppliers "approach with same old habits - no flexibility, not very competitive price offers."

Turkey's oil and gas needs are almost entirely dependent on imports. In the first half of this year, imports from Russia and Iran fell, while supplies from Azerbaijan increased and purchases of American gas rose sharply, the news agency said.

“The U.S. all of a sudden became the second largest (LNG) supplier to the Turkish market in the first part of 2020,” the official said. “The main reason was they were very competitive.”