Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that gas from the largest Turkish field will begin to flow to consumers in the republic in early 2023. Launching and bringing the field to full capacity will allow the country to significantly reduce its dependence on gas imports, primarily from Russia. His words are quoted by the Andolu agency.

We are talking about the Sakarya field on the Black Sea shelf, at the moment its gas reserves are estimated at more than 400 billion cubic meters, and the Turkish authorities estimated the total volume of gas reserves on the Black Sea shelf at 540 billion cubic meters. At the first stage, the volume of supplies will be small - 10 million cubic meters per day (3.65 billion cubic meters per year). The field should operate at full capacity by 2026.

Erdogan noted the relevance of the ongoing work against the backdrop of a sharp rise in energy prices caused by Russia's war against Ukraine. According to the president, the increase in supplies will allow at least partially influence the solution of energy security problems and curb inflation. The head of state called energy a sphere of cooperation, not confrontation.

The President also outlined the key task of launching a new field - strengthening the energy security of the republic. “We will continue our struggle in many directions until we turn Turkey into a state that has completely solved its problem of energy security,” Erdogan summed up, noting that the launch of the field will reduce dependence on foreign supplies.

Turkey has been pursuing a policy of reducing its energy dependence on Russia for many years. According to the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), between 2017 and 2019, Turkey's dependence on Russia for gas supplies fell from 52% to 33%. However, in 2022, at the peak of discussions about a gas embargo against Russia, Erdogan said that Russia accounts for about half of gas supplies to the republic, which does not allow Turkey to consider such restrictions.

Source: THE INSIDER