You would think if Turkey found the biggest natural gas discovery in the country’s history, that it would immediately cease illegal operations in the Eastern Mediterranean? Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Turkey announced its biggest natural gas discovery on Friday, a 320 billion cubic metre (11.3 trillion cubic feet) Black Sea field which President Tayyip Erdogan said was part of even bigger reserves and could come onstream as soon as 2023.
The ship made the discovery about 100 nautical miles north of the Turkish coast.
“This reserve is actually part of a much bigger source. God willing, much more will come,” Erdogan said in a televised address from an Ottoman palace in Istanbul.
“There will be no stopping until we become a net exporter in energy.”
Analysts said it was not clear whether the 320 billion cubic metres he announced referred to total gas estimates or amounts that could be extracted, but that either way it represented a major discovery.
“This is Turkey’s biggest-ever find by a wide margin, and one of the largest global discoveries of 2020,” said Thomas Purdie of consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
A Turkish source told Reuters on Thursday that the discovery contains expected reserves of 800 billion cubic metres.
In the same press conference, Reuters reports, Erdogan said operations in the Mediterranean would accelerate, as gas exploration ships continue to intrude on Greece’s waters.
As well as the Black Sea, Turkey has been exploring for hydrocarbons in the Mediterranean, where its survey operations have drawn protests from Greece and Cyprus.
Greek and Turkish warships shadow a Turkish survey vessel as both of the countries leaders refuse to back down.
Reuters/The Greek Herald
