Turkey is preparing to sign a $43bn liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchase agreement with the United States, according to business daily Ekonomi. 

The deal, expected to be announced in Washington on September 25, will cover LNG imports through 2045, with payments amounting to an annual average of $2.15bn, sources told a columnist at the media outlet, Vahap Munyar. 

The expected deal came to light during the 17th Turkey Investment Conference in New York, organised by the Turkey-US Business Council (TAIK).

The event coincided with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the annual United Nations General Assembly and included a reception at the New York Public Library, where Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar discussed ongoing energy talks. Erdogan will on September 25 meet US President Donald Trump at the White House. He has been accused by the main opposition party back home of securing the meeting by greenlighting a deal to buy 300 Boeing aircraft.

Bayraktar told reporters that Turkey was conducting joint exploration with the US in four fields in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir and was considering cooperation in third countries.

He emphasised that both short- and long-term LNG agreements with the US would significantly strengthen Turkey’s energy supply security.

The LNG deal is expected to play a key role in advancing progress towards the $100bn trade volume target set by the two countries, the sources who spoke to Munyar said, adding that on a 20-year horizon, LNG imports would become one of the most substantial items in bilateral trade.

The conference also featured a roundtable attended by senior executives from major global companies including Mastercard, JP Morgan, Uber, Ford, Boeing, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Citi Group, GE, Carrier, IBM, Netflix, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.