Turkey’s drilling ship Fatih made the discovery in Tuna-1 field and the exploration is continuing in other fields. The Tuna-1 zone is located near Romania’s gas reserve- Neptun block.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on August 21, 2020 that Turkey has discovered 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the biggest-ever natural gas reserve in the Black Sea. The announcement was made during a televised address at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace.
The Turkish President stated that the nation conducted the operation completely through national means and did not rely even one bit on foreign sources for the drilling operations. Turkey’s drilling ship Fatih made the discovery in Tuna-1 field and the exploration is continuing in other fields.
Erdogan said that Turkey plans to extract the natural gas and begin its production by 2023, on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.
Significance
If indeed Turkey can commercially extract natural gas from the recently discovered gas reserve then the discovery will help Turkey cut its current dependence on gas imports from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan and meet its energy needs on its own.
According to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the latest natural gas reserve discovery is a part of a much bigger source. He said, “God willing, much more will come.” The Turkish President also said that as a country that depended on the outside for gas for years, Turkey now looks to the future with more security now. He further stated that there will be no stopping until Turkey becomes a net exporter in energy.
