Germany’s EWE to sell Turkish gas assets to Azerbaijan’s SOCAR

LONDON (ICIS)–Germany’s EWE is to sell out all its Turkish gas operations to Azerbaijan’s SOCAR, a source close to discussions confirmed to ICIS on Wednesday.

EWE was one of the top investors in the Turkish energy sector, entering the market in 2007. It operated the Bursa and Kayseri gas distribution regions and was one of the most active trading outfits in the gas market.

The company is now in the process of finalising the deal and is expecting to pull out of the market completely before the second half of 2019.

It is not clear how much EWE will be selling its assets to SOCAR for at this stage.

Gas companies in the Turkish gas sector have been struggling to keep afloat because of deteriorating market conditions and the record depreciation of the Turkish lira against the euro-dollar basket.