Türkiye on Saturday marked a new step toward its goal of energy independence as the authorities sent off the Osman Gazi platform to the country's flagship gas field in Black Sea region, aiming to double the gas output.

Dubbed as "the floating energy fortress" of the Black Sea by the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, the Osman Gazi is Türkiye's first floating natural gas production platform and is seen as playing a key role in boosting the output from the Sakarya Gas Field.

Here are the key details about the platform and the goal of lifting the output:

Measuring 298.5 meters in length, 56 meters in width and 29.5 meters in depth, the platform is designed to operate as a floating natural gas processing facility, being able to accommodate a crew of 140 people.

The platform departed for the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea on Saturday, marking a key step toward doubling the country's domestic gas production capacity, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.

Speaking at a ceremony in Filyos, in the northern Zonguldak province, Bayraktar said Türkiye is becoming a country that not only explores for and discovers natural gas, but also processes it offshore and brings it ashore.

The Osman Gazi platform will operate approximately 170 kilometers offshore for 20 years, he informed.

"Our goal is to ignite the flare tower of Osman Gazi with gas from the Sakarya Gas Field before the end of this year," Bayraktar said, mentioning December as a potential date.

He also pointed out that the total daily production capacity in the Sakarya Gas Field, together with Osman Gazi, will reach 20 million cubic meters (mcm) by 2027 and said: "Our domestic gas, which is still used in 4 million houses, will double and enter our 8 million households."

"Today, we are opening a brand new page in our energy history. Osman Gazi is the first factory of Blue Homeland, which is part of our vision of the 'Century of Türkiye' in the seas," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a video message to mark the occasion.

Reminding that they announced the first floating production platform in July 2024, Erdoğan recalled that in May last year, they sent off the platform, from Dolmabahçe Palace to Filyos.

"Today, we are opening a brand new page in our energy history. We are sending Osman Gazi, which is almost a floating industrial facility, to the Black Sea to its place of duty," he said.

Sakarya field production

Türkiye has produced 7.23 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas from the Sakarya field so far, completing the first phase with 12 wells and the daily production of 9.5 million cubic meters, Bayraktar noted.

"Osman Gazi will double this production in the second phase with an additional 10 wells," he said.

Sakarya Gas Field is Türkiye's largest-ever natural gas discovery. It is an ultra-deepwater project located in the western Black Sea, located roughly 170 kilometers off the coast of Filyos.

President Erdoğan announced the discovery of 320 billion cubic meters of gas at the Tuna-1 well on Aug. 21, 2020. The estimate was later revised upward by 85 billion cubic meters to 405 billion cubic meters.

Further discoveries at Amasra-1 in 2021, Çaycuma-1 in 2022 and Göktepe-3 in 2025 brought Türkiye's total estimated Black Sea gas reserves to 785 billion cubic meters.

The Sakarya Gas Field began delivering gas to Türkiye's network after production infrastructure was completed.

Gas reached the shore in April 2023, and locally produced gas was fed into the national transmission network in late August of the same year, after processing at a facility at a port in northern Zonguldak province.

Since production began, 12 wells have been brought into operation.

The minister also stated that with the new platform, which is under construction, their production in the Black Sea would increase to a total of 45 million cubic meters per day with 32 wells in 2028.

"In 2028, 75% of the houses with natural gas in our country, that is, approximately 17 million households, will use Black Sea gas in their living spaces, kitchens and bathrooms. Our own gas will burn in 3 of every 4 houses," he said.

Bayraktar also stated that Türkiye is the country with the fourth largest energy fleet in the world, with six deep-sea drilling ships, two seismic research ships and support ships.

As part of his remarks, he also mentioned the oil production in the Gabar field in the country's southeast, overseas efforts for exploration and production in Somalia, and reiterated the goal of "fully-independent" Türkiye in energy.

Exploration, diversification

Aiming to cut its energy import bill, Türkiye has, in recent years, boosted its efforts for domestic production and processing of both natural gas and oil.

It has also signed a number of agreements with international companies for further exploration, including in shale oil wells in Diyarbakır province, its territorial waters and abroad.

Apart from Somalia, it agreed to explore for hydrocarbons in Pakistan, while also securing supplies from neighboring countries and aiming to serve as a major supply hub in the long term.

In terms of energy security and diversification, Ankara has also notably expanded its installed renewable power, already benefiting from lower imports, especially during summer months and periods of higher wind and solar output.