Sat 17 October 2020:
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has raised the estimated reserves in a gas field off its Black Sea coast to 405 billion cubic metres after finding an additional 85 billion cubic metres.
Turkey’s president boarded the drillship Fatih on Saturday, where he officially announced details of the new discovery of natural gas reserves.
“Total amount of natural gas reserves in the TUNA-1 well in Sakarya Gas Field reached 405 billion cubic meters,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after his inspections at the drill ship Fatih.
#Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip #Erdogan announced the discovery of an additional 85 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Black Sea, following the historic natural #gas find in August, also in the #BlackSea. pic.twitter.com/PKgtdaUe8Q
— TRT World Research Centre (@TRTWorldRC) October 17, 2020
“The reserves we discovered in the Black Sea are the largest hydrocarbon resource of our country till today,” he added.
Erdogan’s announcement came closely on the heels of the historic natural gas find in August, also in the Black Sea.
Wednesday, speaking to the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party deputies, Erdogan said: “We will personally witness the efforts on site and announce the amount of the new reserves.”
Turkey’s President Erdogan says the government is expecting more gas fields to be discovered in the Black Sea region. TRT World’s Hasan Abdullah reports pic.twitter.com/OlQ4JYa0X2
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) October 17, 2020
The announcement this August of 320 billion cubic meters in Black Sea reserves by the drill ship Fatih made Turkey “very happy,” and now more good news has come, he said.
Following this summer’s find, when the Fatih discovered the TUNA-1 well in the Sakarya Gas Field, around 170 kilometers (106 miles) off Turkey’s northern coast, Turkish officials had said more reserves might be found soon.
The discovery was the biggest in Turkey’s history. Officials have said the gas from the well would be ready for public use in 2023.
Impact on economy
Turkey, which is almost completely reliant on imports to meet its energy needs, has been exploring for hydrocarbons in the Black Sea and in the Mediterranean, where its survey operations in disputed waters have drawn protests from Greece and Greek-administered Cyprus.
Last year, Turkey spent $41 billion on energy imports. The payments it makes to buy gas from other countries such as Russia and Azerbaijan have been a drag on its currency for years.
The lira strengthened on Wednesday after Erdogan’s announcement of the discovery of more gas reserves expected, as traders anticipated a positive impact.
Officials have said the gas from the Tuna-1 well would be ready for public use in 2023.
However, analysts say Turkey could face extra infrastructure costs in breaking into the market.
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