The importance of natural gas discoveries on the Turkish economy
There have been frequent discoveries of natural gas fields made by the exploration ship (Fateh) in the Black Sea, where the value of these discoveries has reached about a trillion dollars, and this enhances the achievement of the goal of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to make Turkey an energy center in the region, as he expressed this by saying, “We will connect East and West, not only with our bridges in Istanbul and Çanakkale, but also with energy bridges,” not to mention the crude oil production operations that Turkey seeks to achieve a daily output of one hundred thousand barrels, in an effort to achieve self-sufficiency in the need for energy in Turkey.
In the last quarter of April 2023, President Erdogan announced the start of natural gas production from one of Turkey’s fields in the Black Sea, in a step that analysts considered a move in the right direction towards achieving self-sufficiency in Turkey’s energy need, especially since production has reached its maximum from natural gas fields. In the Black Sea, it means filling the country’s need by approximately 30% per year, and in confirmation of this achievement, the Turkish president decided to free natural gas for kitchens and heating water for citizens’ homes for a month, and free 25 cubic meters for one year, as the amount of natural gas reserves discovered in the sea reached Al-Aswad is 710 billion cubic meters, and research and exploration operations are still continuing, and the decision of the President of the Republic related to free natural gas was published by a presidential decree in the Official Gazette on April 24, 2023, as this decree entered into force after its publication, and the gas bill has already reached homes and places of worship by an amount (Zero Pounds), and the decree stipulated the cancellation of the invoices that were sent and included the regular wages for natural gas. As for the invoices paid by consumers, the amounts paid will be returned to them within three days, and after the free month, i.e. on the 31st of May 2023 until the first of May 2024, the Free application of 25 cubic meters for one year.
In the same context, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said that the production of Turkish natural gas fields will reach 10 million cubic meters per day from 10 wells within the operations of the first phase, and in the second phase, production will reach 40 million cubic meters per day.
The discovery and production of natural gas has achieved and will achieve many economic benefits for Turkey, as Turkey relied heavily on importing its energy needs, but these discoveries will not only provide the energy needs of the Turkish market, but will also make it a vital energy center.
Head Quarter Legal Counsel
