The initial pumping of the natural gas Türkiye discovered in the Black Sea into the national grid is facing a delay of up to a month because of the catastrophic earthquakes that ripped through the southeastern region last month, according to the country’s energy minister.
The delay comes as thousands of staff working on the project to bring the gas onshore had to leave to care for their relatives affected by the Feb. 6 quakes and strong aftershocks that killed more than 46,000 people.
The death toll and the fact that the tremors destroyed or severely damaged over 230,000 buildings, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless, make it the worst disaster in Türkiye’s modern history.
“Thousands of our workers went to the region. Now they have returned and are continuing their works from where they left off,” Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said Wednesday.
The minister said hundreds of construction vehicles located at the project site at the Filyos Port in the northern province of Zonguldak were dispatched across the southeastern region to aid search and rescue efforts after the deadly quakes.
“It wouldn't be possible to remain insensitive when we have citizens there who need us more,” the minister told reporters as he visited the project site.
“We moved to the region with all our strength, anticipating that the calendar would be postponed and our plans might be disrupted. The survival of even one of our citizens from under the rubble there has been more important to us than all the other projects,” Dönmez noted.
Türkiye gradually discovered about 710 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in the Black Sea’s Sakarya gas field since August 2020. The reserve is estimated to have a market value of $1 trillion.
Türkiye planned to start pumping the gas into the national grid by the end of March.
“There has been a short-term disruption due to the earthquakes, but, God willing, we will bring our domestic gas to our citizens as of the end of April or the beginning of May,” Dönmez said.
About 10 million cubic meters (mcm) of Black Sea gas per day is expected to be transferred in the initial phase, while the infrastructure has been set up to enable this figure to peak at 40 mcm through 2026.
Türkiye currently imports almost all its energy needs and has extensive gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) import infrastructure.
The country’s annual gas consumption rose from 48 bcm in 2020 to a record 60 bcm in 2021. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said it was expected to stand at around 53.5 bcm in 2022.
Earlier estimates had put the figure at up to 63 bcm, but the power generated from renewable resources this year drove the gas consumption downward.
