ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th July, 2021) Turkey expects to start natural gas production from fields in the Black Sea in 2023, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
"Great efforts are being made so that the first phase of Black Sea gas production begins in 2023. Those who shake the friendly hand extended by Turkey, the most powerful country in the region in terms of politics and economy, will always make a profit," Erdogan said, speaking in videoconference mode at the ceremony of burning the first gas produced from a test well on the Black Sea shelf.
He said that with the start of gas production in the Black Sea, Turkey will reduce its dependence on its external supplies.
"They tried to hinder us by means of sanctions, threats, blackmail, but they failed to achieve anything," the president said.
In early June, Erdogan said Turkey discovered a new gas field in the Black Sea with reserves of more than 135 billion cubic meters of gas. According to him, thus, the total gas reserves on the Black Sea shelf are about 500 billion cubic meters due to last year's discovery: in August 2020, Erdogan announced the discovery of the Sakarya gas field in the Black Sea with an approximate volume of reserves of 320 billion cubic meters.
