IMPROVING TURKEY'S NATURAL GAS DEMAND FORECASTS: A DATA ANALYTICS APPROACH

Abstract

As the world population and consequently energy demand is rapidly increasing, primary energy sources are needed for sustainable development. One fifth of the world's energy needs are provided by natural gas, due to it being the cleanest burning fossil fuel. However, as a fossil fuel, natural gas is a limited resource and requires efficient use. Therefore, planning for natural gas consumption is of great importance. The most critical input for this planning is natural gas demand forecasts. Due to the increasing importance of the subject, numerous studies on natural gas demand forecasting have been conducted in the literature. However, the scientific studies carried out in Turkey are quite limited. In this article, the current demand forecast situation in Turkey is revealed, and a data analytics approach based on big data is developed and proposed.