A New Energy Balance to Be Discussed in Istanbul: Security, Investment and Cooperation
Under the auspices and with the support of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the 16th Türkiye Energy Summit will take place on 26–27 October 2026 at the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel & Conference Center. Held under the main theme “Energy Security and Investment Opportunities in the Euro-Mediterranean Region,” the Summit will bring together public institutions, regulatory authorities, international organizations, investors and senior representatives of the energy sector in Istanbul.
Elif Demirhan, General Coordinator of the Türkiye Energy Summit, emphasized that this year’s program addresses energy security not only in terms of continuity of supply, but also together with investment, infrastructure, market integration, cross-border interconnections and energy diplomacy.
High-level international participation
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar will take part in a special session. The Summit’s opening program is expected to feature Lebanon’s Minister of Energy and Water Joe Saddi, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of National Economy Assan Darbayev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Berris Ekinci, and Mara Lusa Wyganowski, Head of Cooperation and First Counsellor at the Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye, among other distinguished participants.
The program is also expected to feature Sohbet Karbuz, Director of the Natural Resources and Energy Security Division at the Mediterranean Energy and Climate Organisation (OMEC); Pedro Verdelho, President of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) and Portugal’s Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE); Livio De Santoli, Vice President of MEDREG and Board Member of the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment (ARERA); and Hasan Özkoç, Director of the Association of Mediterranean Energy Regulators (MEDREG),bringing together perspectives from across the regional energy landscape.
A new era in the Euro-Mediterranean energy landscape
The reshaping of energy security across Europe and the Mediterranean, the need for new investment, the transformation of energy markets and energy cooperation among countries will form the core of the Summit program. Investment needs arising from expanding renewable energy capacity, electrification and new technologies will also be assessed in the context of regional energy relations.
“We do not view the Euro-Mediterranean region merely as a geographical definition. It is a strategic space where energy security, investment, trade and diplomacy intersect. We consider it important to address short-term energy security needs alongside long-term transformation and investment goals through the perspectives of different stakeholders.”
Investment is a key pillar of energy security
The relationship between energy security and investment will be one of the Summit’s key areas of discussion. Under the heading “New Investment Opportunities in the Energy Sector,” the program aims to bring together the perspectives of financial institutions, investors and industry representatives, addressing not only access to finance but also the predictability of the investment environment, the regulatory framework and new opportunities created by the energy transition.
Transformation in oil, natural gas and LNG markets on the agenda
The program will assess developments in global oil markets, supply-demand balances and geopolitical dynamics. On the natural gas side, discussions will focus on the growing role of LNG, regional gas trade and the place of gaseous fuels in the energy transition. Fuel markets will be addressed under the heading “Adaptation of Fuel Markets to the New World Order.”
T-MED and the integration of Mediterranean energy markets
The integration of Mediterranean energy markets and the T-MED initiative will be prominent in the Summit’s international agenda. The role of regulatory authorities in creating a secure, integrated and efficiently functioning energy market will be discussed from the perspectives of regulatory alignment, market integration and long-term regional cooperation.
Energy diplomacy is an integral part of energy policy
“Energy diplomacy is no longer a field driven solely by supply agreements. Developing the investment environment, interconnecting infrastructure and cross-border private-sector investments are also important parts of this process. Therefore, we will approach energy diplomacy not as a separate foreign-policy issue, but as one of the fundamental elements supporting energy security, investment, regional cooperation and Türkiye’s vision of becoming an energy hub.”
Türkiye’s position between Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia will be assessed at the Summit from a multilateral perspective, with a focus on energy infrastructure, access to diverse sources and routes, natural gas and electricity markets, cross-border interconnections, LNG infrastructure and regional trading capacity.
Objective: Creating space for new cooperation
“What matters to us is discussing the right issues with the right stakeholders at the right time. At the 16th Türkiye Energy Summit, we aim not only to assess the current energy agenda, but also to lay the groundwork for new investments, regional cooperation and long-term engagement.”
The Summit, to be held in Istanbul on 26–27 October, aims to serve as a strong platform connecting Türkiye’s energy-sector agenda with developments in the Euro-Mediterranean energy landscape and addressing the relationship between energy security, investment, markets and diplomacy from a multilateral perspective.
