Turkey may cooperate with foreign firms in Black Sea: Minister

ANKARA

Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez said on Oct. 22 that Turkey will operate the gas field which it recently discovered in the Black Sea on its own, but it may cooperate with foreign firms in terms of detailed work and equipment.

His comments, at an interview with broadcaster A Para, came after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Oct. 17 Turkey had raised the estimated reserves of the field to 405 billion cubic meters after finding an additional 85 bcm.

"Total amount of natural gas reserves in the TUNA-1 well in Sakarya Gas Field reached 405 billion cubic meters," Erdoğan had said after his inspections at the drill ship Fatih.

"The reserves we discovered in the Black Sea are the largest hydrocarbon resource of our country till today," he added.

Erdoğan’s announcement came close on the heels of the historic natural gas find in August, also in the Black Sea.

He said the robot, named Kaşif (Explorer), will meet the electricity need at hundreds of meters depth and video footages will be obtained by remote control.

Turkey, heavily dependent on foreign energy resources, has long been exploring the hydrocarbon reserves in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean through deep-sea drillings since the early 2010s. It has accelerated its explorations after it purchased three drilling ships, Yavuz, Kanuni, and Fatih under a new energy policy launched in 2017.   

In August, Erdoğan announced that Turkey has discovered its largest ever natural gas reserve in the Black Sea with a capacity of 320 billion cubic meters.

After the announcement, the energy minister had said that Turkey expects its energy imports to fall significantly following the Black Sea natural gas find.