Black Sea gas historic milestone to energy independence: Erdoğan

ZONGULDAK

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on April 20 has launched Türkiye’s first delivery from a Black Sea gas reserve a few weeks ahead of a general election, as Ankara aims towards energy independence.

“This is a historic milestone for Türkiye’s path to energy independence,” Erdoğan said at the ceremony held in northern Zonguldak province.

The Sakarya field will provide 10 million cubic meters of natural gas in the first phase and this figure will subsequently rise to 40 million cubic meters with the drilling of additional wells, President Erdoğan said.

Türkiye will be able to meet nearly 30 percent of the country’s total annual need once we reach full capacity, he said and continued, “This project will not only help us to substantially reduce our country’s foreign dependency in natural gas, but it will also make Filyos and Zonguldak an important energy, technology and logistics base.”

“I hope the Black Sea natural gas may be auspicious for our country and nation,” he stated.

Preliminary data from drilling in the TUNA-1 well showed a reserve of 320 billion cubic meters (bcm) in the field, then, with additional drilling, this figure increased to 405 billion cubic meters, Erdoğan said.

The amount of reserves increased to 540 bcm as a result of the studies that expanded with the addition of the Kanuni drilling vessel, he explained.

After our Yavuz vessel joined the drilling fleet, the gas amount in the Sakarya field was registered as 652 bcm with the three-dimensional modeling made by an international evaluation company, he said.

Meanwhile, 58 bcm of reserves were discovered in another field, ÇAYCUMA-1 well, thus, Türkiye’s gas reserves in the Black Sea reached 710 bcm, the president noted.

Erdoğan also announced that the government will provide the natural gas free of charge to the citizens in their kitchen use and in water heating for one year.

“The cost of natural gas required for kitchen and hot water consumption, which is equivalent to an average of 25 cubic meters per month, will be deducted from the bills for one year,” he said.

Additionally, the government will not charge for the natural gas consumption of all residences in Türkiye for one month, he added.

In 2020, the country discovered gas reserves off the coast of Zonguldak in the Black Sea region, which Erdoğan hailed at the time as Türkiye’s largest-ever natural gas field and a way to wean the country off its dependence on energy imports.

In June, Türkiye started the construction of an underwater pipeline connected to the seabed from the port of Filyos - around 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Istanbul on the Black Sea coast.

The facility will begin producing 10 million cubic meters of gas daily in the first phase - which Erdoğan said is expected to reach 40 million cubic meters daily after other wells go into operation.

Experts say 10 million cubic meters of gas per day would meet around 6 percent of Türkiye’s annual consumption which stands at 60 billion cubic meters, delivering a boost for the economy.

Türkiye received 40 percent of its gas from Russia last year. It also imports gas from Azerbaijan and Iran, and Ankara has been seeking ways to diversify supplies, especially after Russia launched its war on Ukraine last year.

HH Erdoğan says he does not seek rant of attack at AKP building

Elaborating on a shooting incident against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) building in the Çukurova district of Adana province on April 20 Erdoğan said, “I am not going to make an assessment as some party presidents do. I do not expect any profit from it.”

“Terrorists will always do the banditry everywhere. Moreover, [the incident in] Çukurova is not our first. We have experienced this a lot in terror zones,” Erdoğan told reporters after Eid prayer. Interior Ministry nabbed the perpetrator immediately, he said.