President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday visited Turkey’s first oil and gas drilling vessel Fatih in the Black Sea. During his visit he announced that a further 85 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas has been found, bringing the total amount to 405 bcm.
Turkey's aim is to make this gas available to the country in 2023, Erdoğan said. "The reserve we discovered in the Black Sea is our country's largest hydrocarbon source so far," he said, adding that Turkey’s dependence on foreign natural gas will decrease significantly.
Turkey will continue to search for hydrocarbon resources in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the president stated. During his speech, he also touched upon the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean saying that the European Union should act fair, otherwise it will allude to the end of the block.
In August, Erdoğan unveiled the discovery of a 320 bcm field in the Black Sea about 100 nautical miles north of the Turkish coast.
Fatih is currently operating in the Tuna-1 location of the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea, where the large gas reserve lies.
Earlier this week, Erdoğan said he will announce a new figure for the gas reserves in Tuna-1.
Sources claim that the first gas flow from the Black Sea is planned for January 2023 with an annual gas flow of 15 bcm envisaged from 2025.
Turkey currently imports nearly all of its hydrocarbon energy needs. The discovery, however, promises to help drive down the country's current account deficit.
