Turkey will send its first floating gas production platform to the Black Sea on Saturday, a move expected to roughly double output from its largest domestic gas field, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Thursday.
The Osman Gazi platform is expected to begin production in early 2027, eventually raising daily output from the Sakarya gas field to 20 million cubic metres from the current 9.5 million, equivalent to 7.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) annually.
The platform will operate around 170 km offshore and is expected to remain in service for 20 years, processing natural gas for delivery to Turkey's national grid.
Turkey is one of Europe's largest gas markets, consuming 59 bcm last year. The country relies on imports for almost all its gas needs, with domestic production totalling 3.1 bcm last year, most of it from the Sakarya field.
(Reuters)