Türkiye is planning to finish all preparations to build the
Thrace hub within a year, which will be an important energy center,
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez has said,
Trend reports citing
Hurriyet Daily News.
“We aim for a hub in Thrace that will satisfy both the buyer and
the seller, and that can safely transact in the market. We are in
talks with both Russia and other source countries,” Donmez told
reporters at the Filyos Natural Gas Conversion Facility in the
Black Sea province of Zonguldak.
The government is planning to bring such a market to life within
a year, the minister noted, foreseeing that the hub can start to
operate with a more limited number of markets “for the transition
period.”
New suppliers and new contracts are needed for gas to be
exported to Europe, Donmez said. “We will present the technical and
technological infrastructure to the market participants. The buyer
and seller will be able to trade at any price they want.”
The minister also pointed out that the searches have intensified
in places where oil and gas were previously found, adding that they
will also concentrate on searches in central Anatolian, Aegean and
eastern Anatolian regions.
Reminding that the ministry drilled 94 exploration wells and 56
production wells in 2022, he pledged that these numbers will reach
134 and 73 next year, respectively. “We need to increase the
numbers at least twice as much.”
Meanwhile, in the Filyos Natural Gas Conversion Facility, which
is still under construction, it is aimed to increase the
production, which will start with 10,000 cubic meters per day in
the first stage, to 40 million cubic meters by gradually increasing
over four years, according to the minister.
A total of 8,000 people are working to complete the facility in
the first quarter of 2023, he added.
Donmez said last month some 80 percent of the facility was
completed, reminding that the gas extracted from the Black Sea will
be offered to consumers from March 2023.
The minister also elaborated on Türkiye’s cooperation with
Israel on energy and said, “Türkiye is the best route for Eastern
Mediterranean gas to reach the markets in the most economical and
fastest way. Especially considering that such a natural gas trade
center will be implemented in the near future, this will be an
opportunity for them as well.”
Türkiye’s annual gas consumption has risen from 48 billion cubic
meters in 2020 to 60 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach 62-63
billion this year, according to official figures.
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