Hürriyet Daily reported that more Turkish companies have applied to Gazprom to replace state run Botaş which is scheduled to cancel its ongoing deal for 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas by the end of the year.

The Turkish Energy Ministry announced in September that domestic private companies could buy gas from Gazprom’s West Line because Botaş decided to end a 26 year contract over a price dispute. Until today, 12 firms have joined with Shell Enerji, Eurasian Gas, Bosphorus Gas and Enelko, the current importers.

Gazprom plans to announce its decision on buyers tomorrow, the same deadline for Turkish Energy Market Regulation Association to receive import permit applications. The EPDK has only received one application but Turkish officials said there were no plans to extend the deadline.

(Sourced from Hürriyet Daily News)