PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said Turkey has made its biggest-ever discovery of natural gas after completing new exploration work in the Black Sea.

He said the 320 billion cubic metre deep-sea find was made at a site that Turkish vessel Fatih began exploring last month, adding that he hopes to see the first batch of gas reaching Turkish consumers in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the birth of the modern republic.

“Turkey has made the biggest discovery of natural gas in its history in the Black Sea,” said a delighted Erdogan during a speech at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace.

“My Lord has opened the door to unprecedented wealth for us.”

Fatih, Turkey’s first drilling vessel, is named after Ottoman Sultan Fatih Sultan Mehmet, who conquered Constantinople – present-day Istanbul – in 1453.

The ship made the discovery in the Tuna-1 field off the coast of Eregli town in the northern province of Zonguldak after beginning the search on July 20, said Erdogan, who expressed hope of new finds in the same region.

Finance Minister and Erdogan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak, speaking aboard the vessel, said the discovery and future potential will help reduce Turkey’s widening current-account deficit by addressing the country’s high annual energy import bill.

Turkey is hugely dependent on Russia for its energy, and has been keen to diversify its supplies.

This month, Erdogan ordered the resumption of controversial energy exploration off the southern coast close to a Greek island in disputed eastern Mediterranean waters.

The issue has pitted Ankara against Greece, Cyprus and the European Union, and exacerbated tensions with France, which has stepped up its military presence in the region.

Erdogan showed no sign of yielding to the EU’s calls to immediately end the eastern Mediterranean search.

“We will accelerate our activities in the Mediterranean with the deployment by year-end of (drilling ship) Kanuni, which is currently under maintenance.

“God willing, we expect similar good news.” – AFP, August 21, 2020.