Turkey discovers 320 billion cubic metres natural gas reserve in Black Sea - Erdogan

Turkish drillship Fatih has discovered 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves in the Black Sea, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Friday, August, 21, as the long-awaited good news he promised to give earlier this week.

Erdoğan said that the natural gas Turkey has found is the biggest discovery in the country’s history. He noted that data shows there is a strong possibility of other natural gas finds in the area.

Turkey has made the biggest natural gas discovery in the Black Sea, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.

The country's drill ship Fatih found some 320 billion cubic meters (11.3 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas on July 20, said Erdogan.

He added that Turkey aimed to supply the discovered gas to public use in 2023.

The news came after Erdogan announced "good news" for the country that he had promised earlier this week.

On July 20, the Fatih drill ship began drilling in the Tuna-1 field in the Black Sea.
Fatih's 103-meter-long (338 feet) tower was disassembled in Istanbul's Haydarpasa port to enable the safe passage of the vessel under the bridges spanning the Bosphorus Strait before its journey north to the Black Sea.

The vessel set sail for the Black Sea on May 29 from Istanbul to the Port of Trabzon in Turkey's northeast, where it reached its destination for reassembly on June 6.

Erdoğan also said Turkey's aim is to provide Black Sea gas to use in 2023.

The discovery comes as tensions between NATO allies Turkey and Greece are running high over oil and gas exploration in disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean. Greek and Turkish warships have been shadowing each other after Turkey sent a research ship to look for potential undersea oil and gas deposits. The Turkish ship is scheduled to search for energy reserves there until Aug. 23.