The Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak attended a live broadcast on August 25 to address questions on Türkiye’s recent discovery of a natural gas reserve in the Black Sea.
Underlining the significance of the discovery of 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Sakarya Zone, Albayrak said, “Türkiye is making a major transformation. Neither the East nor the West will be the global axis any more. The new global axis will be built upon Türkiye.”
Albayrak also stated that the discovery will help Türkiye set aside issues about current account deficit and that it will have positive contributions to energy costs for households and various industries.
Commenting on extraction costs, the process, and Türkiye’s technical know-how to extract natural gas, Albayrak said, “We have evaluated the costs and overall investment. Akçakoca coast is a very suitable location in terms of infrastructure. Extraction of the reserves will be much cheaper than expected.” Albayrak also emphasized that Türkiye is capable of financing the project, as it was the case with the procurement of the drilling ships, and added that the Petroleum Pipeline Company (BOTAŞ) and Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) are capable of operating by their own means and extracting natural gas in the zone with support from the Turkish Treasury.