ISTANBUL, Türkiye —
Türkiye’s president hailed on Monday the start of the construction of
an underwater pipeline to tap a Black Sea natural gas field that the government
hopes will help wean the country off its dependence on energy imports.
اضافة اعلان
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan watched via video link as the first pipeline section was laid
and connected to the seabed from the port of Filyos, around 400km east of
Istanbul on the Black Sea coast.
He said the Sakarya
gas field could produce 10 million cubic meters by the first quarter of 2023.
The Sakarya gas
field, 170km out to sea, was discovered in August 2020.
At the time,
Erdogan described it as “the largest natural gas field in Türkiye’s history”,
citing estimated reserves of 320 billion cubic meters.
“The Sakarya field
will hopefully reach its peak production in 2026,” Erdogan said on Monday.
“We will continue
our efforts until we can fully ensure our energy security,” he added.
Türkiye is still
highly dependent on imports to cover its energy needs and is paying a high
price, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Last year 45
percent of the gas used in Türkiye came from Russia, and the rest from Iran and
Azerbaijan.
Inflation in the
country is running at 73.5 percent, a rate not seen since 1998, and the
currency is in free fall — making the cost of living hard to bear for most
Turks.
Türkiye’s annual
gas consumption has risen from 48 billion cubic meters in 2020 to 60 billion in
2021 and is expected to reach 62–63 billion this year, according to official
figures.
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