Local gas in Turkey to cover only a fraction of consumption - experts

Natural gas found in the Black Sea could meet only 3.5% of Turkey's natural gas needs, analysts say.

The official statements initially said that the discovery of the natural gas would allow for an initial annual production of 2.5 billion cubic meters, which would gradually increase to 10 billion in four years. These figures were then revised from 3.5 billion annually to 14 billion in four years.

However, energy experts who spoke to Deutsche Welle Turkish about the production outlook said that domestic gas will not be able to meet demand this year, as production figures are already quite optimistic.

Even if the predictions come true, daily production will only cover about 3.5% of consumption during the cold winter days, they said.

Official estimates for Turkey's total natural gas consumption this year are around 56 billion cubic meters.

"The new discovery will produce about two billion cubic meters by the end of the year. So, production will account for about 3 to 3.5% of consumption," said Oguz Turkyilmaz, head of the Energy Working Group at the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers.

Even if production reaches 14 billion cubic meters when full capacity is reached, this would not be enough to supply Turkey, Turkyilmaz said.