Turkey’s natural gas production witnessed a substantial surge last year, soaring by 112.55% on an annual basis to hit 807.28 million cubic meters, as per Azernews citing the Energy Market Regulatory Authority’s (EMRA) annual natural gas report.
The increase in domestic production can be attributed to the commencement of production at the Black Sea’s natural gas discovery in September 2023.
Eight companies holding wholesale licenses in Turkey are responsible for the production and distribution of natural gas, namely TPAO, Arar Petrol, Park Place Energy Limited, Thrace Basin Natural Gas Corporation Turkey, Petrogas, Atli Makina, Marsa Turkey B.V., and Transatlantic Petroleum.
Collectively, these companies contributed 807.28 million cubic meters of natural gas to the system last year, marking a significant 112.55% increase compared to the previous year.
The report highlights that a considerable portion of this production boost stemmed from the Black Sea’s Sakarya gas field discovery, which commenced production and supply to the system in September 2023.
Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), Thrace Basin, and Park Place were primarily responsible for the production and distribution of this Black Sea natural gas.
Before the Sarkarya gas field discovery, Turkey’s natural gas production had been witnessing annual declines. In 2019, production stood at 473.87 million cubic meters, which declined to 441.27 million cubic meters in 2020, further dropping to 394.44 million cubic meters in 2021, and 379.81 million cubic meters in 2022.
The largest share of natural gas availability, amounting to 337.8 million cubic meters, was observed in Zonguldak province, followed by Tekirdag with 243.32 million cubic meters, Kirklareli with 108.7 million cubic meters, Duzce with 55.95 million cubic meters, and Istanbul with 55.90 million cubic meters.
Among the provinces supplied with Black Sea gas, Hatay received the lowest share, with just 4,000 cubic meters.
Various entities, including wellhead compressed natural gas license holders, distribution firms, importer companies, wholesale corporations, and commercial and industrial facilities in production regions, were granted access to the natural gas generated last year.
Covering approximately 10,000 square kilometers, the Sakarya gas field has a production area spanning 2,200 square kilometers.
Efforts are ongoing in the field, where 25% of its resources have been exploited and produced.
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar mentioned on April 19 that endeavors to boost natural gas production in the field have been underway, with a target of increasing daily production to 5 million cubic meters by May.
Bayraktar expressed optimism about discovering more reserves in various locations within the field. He anticipates announcing more discoveries in July following evaluations and drillings at the Goktepe-1 and Goktepe-2 wells in the Sakarya field.