Turkey consumed 75 million tons of oil for road transport costing more than US$50 billion in 5 years according to data from Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and Ministry of Energy.
When rail, water and air transportation is included, the total amount of oil used in transportation sector totaled 83.7 million tons, 75 million tons of which was used on road vehicles.
The country spent about $90 billion to import crude oil during the same period and more than half of it was used on land transportation alone.
“Turkey spends more than $50 billion on energy imports every year” said Energy Minister Taner Yildiz and added “Petroleum is a major component of Turkey’s energy bill and the country benefits from decreasing oil prices”
Meanwhile, the average per barrel oil prices in 2009 was $61.7 and in 2010 it increased to $79.6. In 2011 the price spiked to $111.2 and followed through 2012 at $111.6 later dropping to $108.5 in 2013. Prices recently dropped to around $60 a barrel.
Turkey heavily relies on foreign imports for energy resources such as coal, oil and natural gas. The country's import bill for various energy source is around $60 billion a year.
By Zeynep Beyza Karabay
Anadolu Agency
zeynep.karabay@aa.com.tr