Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that the drilling ship Fatih has found a 320-billion-cubic-meter natural gas reserve in the western Black Sea. Romania has also found gas reserves in the area. Turkey is hugely reliant on energy imports from Russia. Last year, energy imports cost the country €35 billion. Erdogan hopes to see the first gas from the new reserve reach Turkish consumers in 2023. According to analysts, it could take several years and billions of dollars in investment before Turkey can start gas production. Larger gas reserves have been found in the Mediterranean. For example, the Zohr field discovered by Egypt is estimated to hold 850 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
