Türkiye to have another floating platform in 2028: Energy minister

ESKİŞEHİR

Türkiye is set to have another floating production platform in 2028, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

Türkiye has the world's sixth-largest fleet in this field and the country will soon rank among the top four globally, Bayraktar said, speaking in the western province of Eskişehir.

Meanwhile, the country’s first floating natural gas production platform, Osman Gazi, arrived on May 31 at Filyos Port in Zonguldak on the Black Sea coast.

The massive platform was sent off from the Presidential Dolmabahçe Office in Istanbul on May 29 — the 572nd anniversary of Istanbul’s conquest — in a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and passed through the Istanbul Strait.

With a maximum processing capacity of 10.5 million cubic meters of natural gas per day and a transfer capacity of 10 million cubic meters, the platform will double natural gas production in the Black Sea to 20 million cubic meters daily.

It is expected to meet the natural gas needs of about 8 million households in Türkiye and will operate at the site for 20 years.

Bayraktar also recalled that Türkiye made the biggest natural gas discovery in its history in the Black Sea.

"Today, we are producing enough natural gas to supply four million households,” he said.

The minister stated that Türkiye also made the largest oil discovery in its history, saying that 80,000 barrels of oil are produced daily in Gabar, “a region once associated with terrorism and bloodshed.”

The oil production in Gabar, in the country’s southeast, contributes some $2 billion annually to the Turkish economy, according to Bayraktar.