Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Turkish President Recep Erdogan announced the opening of the largest gas field Sakarya in Black Sea, which will reduce Ankara’s dependence on the import of blue fuel.

According to Turkish experts, the volume of natural gas deposits discovered in the Black Sea reaches 320 billion cubic meters. If these figures are true, this field can rightfully be called the largest in the history of the country. The Turkish leader hopes that the development of the new field will begin in 2023, Deutsche Welle (Germany) reports.

Many industry experts, however, consider R. Erdogan’s plans too ambitious. At the moment, gas imports from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan provide two-thirds of Turkey’s needs. In 2019, thanks to low oil prices, energy supplies cost the Turkish treasury US$41 billion.

In Ankara, the discovery of large deposits of blue fuel is called a miracle and it is argued that with their help it will be possible to cover a third of Turkey’s natural gas needs.

Experts, however, emphasize that the forecasts are only preliminary. In particular, it is not yet clear whether it will be possible to extract all 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the field, or whether R. Erdogan’s statements are primarily aimed at securing the support of the electorate.

Experts are also skeptical about the statement by the Turkish leader that gas from the new field will begin to flow to Turkish consumers in 2023, not least because of the difficulties associated with deep-sea production of blue fuel. The Sakarya project has practically no world analogues in terms of its indicators, and Turkey has no experience in offshore gas production.

At the same time, even if gas reserves turn out to be not as large as expected, and Turkey still fails to refuse gas imports, the discovery of a new field is good news. Among other things, this will strengthen Ankara’s position in negotiations with gas exporters, especially given the fact that many long-term and expensive contracts will expire in the coming years and will need to be renewed.