It is reportedly known that Turkey has ambitions to become a regional energy power. Its location between oil and gas producers in the Middle East and the southern Caucasus and consumer countries in the European Union has long been an advantage. And the recent discovery of a large natural gas field off Turkey`s Black Sea shore will be a new boost.
The new well is called Tuna-1 (referring to the Turkish word for the Danube River), holds about 320 billion cubic meters of gas. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to make Black Sea gas available for use in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. This gas find is also in line with the government`s campaign to boost domestic manufacturing to upgrade the economy and add to the country`s prestige.
For a long time, Moscow has had the upper hand in commercial negotiations with Ankara, having a share of about 52% on the Turkish market in 2017. But it dropped to 47% in 2018, and 33% in 2019, since Turkey has been buying more and more LNG from alternative suppliers like Algeria, Nigeria, Qatar and US. The new find will be a new and important bargaining chip for Turkey with Moscow now.