Turkey may start gas production from 2023: Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkey hopes to start producing natural gas from the Black Sea regions from 2023. Erdogan said, “Extensive efforts are being made to start the first phase of gas production in the Black Sea from 2023.” People who befriend Turkey, the most powerful country in the region in terms of politics and economy, will always make a profit.

He said the start of gas production in the Black Sea would reduce Turkey’s dependence on its external supplies. “They tried to stop us through sanctions, threats, blackmail, but they failed to achieve anything,” he said.

Mr Erdogan said in early June that Turkey had discovered a new gas field in the Black Sea with more than 135 billion cubic meters of gas reserves. According to him, the total gas reserves on the Black Sea belt are about 500 billion cubic meters.