By Merve Safa Akinturk

The gas test starts in the Black Sea: The plan is 10 million cubic meters per day in the first stage and 40 million cubic meters in the second.

Filyos Main Gas Measurement Station, one of the key points in the project that will bring 540 billion cubic meters of natural gas discovered in the Black Sea to consumers, is ready for the test. The natural gas extracted from the Sakarya gas field in Filyos will be cleaned from liquid and solid materials before being transferred to the system, where measurements will be carried out. The second phase of the giant project, covering the 180 km line to be built for “peak” production, counts the days.

Efforts are underway to bring the 540 billion cubic meters of natural gas discovered in the Black Sea to consumers. Most of the work on transferring the gas to the national transmission system has been completed. One of the key points in the project is Filyos Main Gas Measurement Station, which will ensure that the extracted natural gas is cleaned of liquid and solid materials before being transferred to the national system. Here, the quality of gas will also be measured. BOTAS made the station ready for gas purchase as of 30 November. The station is ready for gas testing. A 36-kilometer-long and 48-inch high-pressure steel natural gas pipeline was laid in the area that will transport the gas to the network with the measurement station.

After the first stage of the Black Sea gas project, where 10 million cubic meters of natural gas production is planned in the first stage and 40 million cubic meters of natural gas in the second stage, the eyes are on the second stage of peak production. BOTAS is counting the days to start the second phase of activities. BOTAS teams, which will build the 180-km-long pipeline in the second phase, aim to complete the entire project in 2024. It is aimed to transfer 10 million cubic meters of gas per day in the first stage and 40 million cubic meters of gas per day in the second stage.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said that the ongoing work for the use of domestic gas by consumers in 2023 is progressing in accordance with the project schedule.

“Work is not only underway at the Sakarya gas field and Filyos natural gas processing plant. In many fields, different business lines are working to bring domestic gas to our people. BOTAS is also making an intense effort to connect domestic gas to the national system. BOTAS, the guarantee of supply security in energy, has duly completed this work. This project will go down in Turkiye’s energy history," Donmez said.

“Our president has also announced. We have undersigned the discovery of an important oil reserve in the Sirnak region. It will come back, stay tuned,” Fatih Donmez added.

Donmez also noted that following the Filyos Natural Gas Processing Facility, “the countdown has begun and continues to bring our own gas to our people, which our nation has longed for in the Turkish century in the 100th year of our republic. Hopefully, if nothing goes wrong like in March next year, we will supply this gas to the system. Work continues at the construction site. We have a total of 8,000 personnel, they are working. We continue to work on the seaside with 51 ships.”