Turkey has discovered a new 135 billion cubic metre (bcm) natural gas reserve in the southern Black Sea, the Ankara-based Anadolu Agency cites President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying on Friday.
"Our Fatih drill ship made a discovery of 135 billion cubic metres of natural gas in the Amasra-1 well in the Sakarya gas field," Erdogan told during an opening ceremony in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak.
Noting that Turkey's total natural gas discovery in Black Sea has reached 540 billion cubic meters, Erdogan said drilling activities in Amasra-1 well is ongoing and "we expect new good news from this region."
Last year, Turkey's Fatih drill ship discovered 405 bcm of natural gas in the Sakarya field, the country's biggest discovery.
Currently, Turkey’s Kanuni drillship is completing exploratory tests at the Turkali-2 well, while the the Fatih vessel is drilling in Turkali-3 well, both in the Sakarya field.
Gas production from the Sakarya field is expected to begin in 2023.
In 2019, Turkey spent $41 billion on energy imports. The country buys natural gas mainly from Russia and Azerbaijan.