Yildirim: Gas reserves in Black Sea to cover global needs for 45 years

Energy reserves in the Black Sea are sufficient to cover the world’s demand for natural gas for 45 years, deputy head of Turkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on May 7, Report informs referring to TASS.

“The reserves of the Black Sea in natural gas are now estimated at 540 billion cubic meters. This is just the beginning, there will be a continuation. The Black Sea is able to cover the world’s gas needs for 45 years,” the Sozcu newspaper quoted Yildirim as saying.

The Turkish authorities announced the discovery of large gas reserves in the Black Sea in 2020. The reserves of the largest field, Sakarya, were reported at the time to exceed 400 billion cubic meters.

Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez, in an interview with the magazine Kriter in May said that it is planned to start operating this field in early 2023 and increase gas production to 40 million cubic meters per day.