Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced the discovery of vast natural gas reserves off the Black Sea coast, days after he promised: "good news" that would usher in a "new era" for the energy-dependent country.
Erdogan said that the amount of gas discovered is 320 billion cubic meters, adding that he hopes to start extracting and using the gas by 2023.
If confirmed as recoverable resources, the reserves could ease the country's dependence on costly energy imports. They could reduce the financial market jitters that have seen the country's currency plummet to record lows this summer.
Turkey's drilling ship Fatih has been operating since late July in an exploration zone known as Tuna-1, about 100 nautical miles north of the Turkish coast in the western Black Sea.
"There is a natural gas finding in the Tuna 1 well," the source said. "The expected reserve is 26 trillion cubic feet or 800 billion cubic meters, and it meets approximately 20 years of Turkey's needs."
"We have carried out nine deep-sea drillings in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea through our Fatih and Yavuz ships so far. We have had the honor of giving our nation the good news that it has been waiting for."
"There is no stopping and resting until we become a net exporter in energy," he added.