In statements on the sidelines of the CERAWIC Energy Conference, he added that Turkey relies on Russia for 45 percent of its demand for natural gas, 17 percent for oil and 40 percent for gasoline.
“The world needs more oil… It has to come from somewhere, from the United States… from Venezuela… from Iran… Saudi Arabia, or wherever we want it,” he said.
He went on to say that Turkey could not easily replace its Russian oil supplies from elsewhere, adding that it was a “reliable old supplier”.
Turkey had previously imported about 200,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude before Washington decided in 2018 to withdraw from the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.
“Suddenly we went down to zero (supply from Iran stopped)… Now we can’t have another supply disruption, this time in Russia,” Bayraktar said.
Turkey hopes that Washington and Tehran will reach an agreement soon that will bring Iran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. The two countries have been in talks for nearly a year to restore the agreement that lifted sanctions on Iran.
“I hope this Iranian issue will be resolved soon,” Bayraktar said.