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A Turkish drilling rig has discovered a large natural gas reserve in the Black Sea.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that the drilling vessel Fatih, which has been operating in the area since July, had found 320bn cu m (11.3 tr cu ft) of gas.
He said it was Turkey’s largest natural gas to date.
If Turkey can extract the gas commercially, it will be able to reduce its reliance on imported energy.
President Erdogan said all testing and engineering work had been completed.
He added: “This reserve is actually part of a much larger resource. God willing, much more will come.
“There will be no stopping until we become a net exporter in energy.”
President Erdogan said he hopes to begin extracting the gas by 2023.
But energy experts say it could take up to a decade and billions of dollars in investment to get the gas into commercial use.
Turkey has also sent a ship to conduct a resource survey in the eastern Mediterranean.
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Turkey has rejected Greece’s complaints against the ship’s planned voyage as well as against international law
The Oruc Cruise left port on August 10, accompanied by five naval vessels. It was reported the next day to sail in waters between Crete and Cyprus.
This has frightened the Greeks because they disagree with Turkey over who holds the rights to certain areas of the eastern Mediterranean.
On Friday, President Erdogan said he intended to speed up operations in the Mediterranean.
