With recent investments in natural gas supply, storage, and production, Türkiye has strengthened its energy supply security and increased its resilience against potential supply shocks. The country consumes approximately 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually to meet the heating and electricity needs of households and eligible consumers. In order to meet this demand and ensure supply security, Türkiye continues to invest not only in pipeline infrastructure but also in liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, while also working to increase domestic gas production.
On the supply side, in addition to pipeline imports from Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan, Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRUs) and LNG terminals—critical components of the gas infrastructure—enable the procurement of gas from a variety of sources and countries. Through these facilities, Türkiye can procure LNG from a wide geography, ranging from Algeria to the United States, further enhancing its energy supply security with spot and long-term contracts. Gas supplied via pipelines is also liquefied at these facilities and re-exported to various European countries via LNG tankers.
Türkiye has launched three FSRUs and two LNG terminals over the last 30 years:
- Marmara Ereğlisi LNG Terminal (Tekirdağ, operational since 1994)
- Egegaz LNG Terminal (İzmir)
- Ertuğrul Gazi FSRU (Hatay, Dörtyol)
- Saros FSRU (northeastern Aegean Sea)
- Etki Liman FSRU (İzmir)
With the capacities of these facilities, Türkiye is now among the leading countries in this area globally.
LNG and FSRU Facilities: Strategic Elements of Natural Gas Infrastructure
Etki Liman FSRU, Ertuğrul Gazi FSRU, and Saros FSRU each have a daily natural gas injection capacity of 28 million cubic meters. The Marmara LNG Terminal can supply 37 million cubic meters per day, while the Egegaz LNG Terminal provides 40 million cubic meters daily to the grid.
Additionally, Silivri Natural Gas Storage Facility can deliver 75 million cubic meters, and Tuz Gölü Underground Storage Facility can deliver 40 million cubic meters of natural gas per day to the grid.
Thus, Türkiye’s daily gas supply capacity from LNG, FSRU, and storage facilities has reached approximately 276 million cubic meters.
Storage Capacity to Exceed 13 Billion Cubic Meters by 2028
To ensure supply security for households and eligible consumers, storage facilities also play a critical role. Türkiye currently operates two major storage facilities:
- Silivri Natural Gas Storage Facility (commissioned in 2007 with 4.6 billion cubic meters capacity)
- Tuz Gölü Underground Storage Facility (operational since 2017 with 1.2 billion cubic meters capacity)
With a combined capacity of 5.8 billion cubic meters, expansion work is underway to increase Tuz Gölü’s capacity to 8.8 billion cubic meters by 2028. This would bring the total storage capacity to 13.4 billion cubic meters.
Expanding Energy Fleet
Aiming to meet its natural gas demand through domestic resources, Türkiye has built a powerful high-tech energy fleet in recent years for offshore gas and oil exploration.
The fleet includes four drilling vessels—Fatih, Yavuz, Kanuni, and Abdülhamid Han—as well as two seismic survey vessels, Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa and MTA Oruç Reis.
To increase production from the Black Sea, the Osman Gazi floating production unit arrived in Çanakkale in September 2024. The platform moved to Filyos Port earlier this month and is expected to begin operations in 2025. Another floating production unit is planned to join the fleet in 2028. With this robust exploration, drilling, and production fleet, Türkiye now ranks 6th in the world in terms of fleet size for offshore oil and gas activities.
Domestic Production to Exceed 20 Million Cubic Meters Daily by 2026
Türkiye made a major natural gas discovery in the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea in August 2020, marking a concrete success in offshore exploration. With additional discoveries and reassessments from various wells, the total gas reserve was increased to 710 billion cubic meters. On May 18, another 75 billion cubic meter discovery was announced, bringing the total reserve to 785 billion cubic meters.
Production from the Black Sea began in April 2023, and daily output has reached 9.5 million cubic meters, according to data from Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO). In the Thrace region, about 1 million cubic meters of gas is produced daily from other domestic fields.
With current total production at around 10.5 million cubic meters per day, the commissioning of the Osman Gazi floating production platform is expected to raise daily output to over 20 million cubic meters by 2026.
Moreover, with an additional platform set to come online in 2028, another 20 million cubic meters of daily production will be added, bringing total output from the Black Sea to 40 million cubic meters per day.
Source: Anadolu Ajansı/ Prepared by: İlayda Gök