BAKU. TurkicWorld:

Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said the work on the natural gas discovered in the Black Sea continues and they aim to “burn this gas on land in the first quarter of 2023, in March.”

Türkiye aims to finalize its current drills for natural gas in the Black Sea wells in 2023, the minister told, reports TurkicWorld with the reference Hurriyet Daily News.

Stating that 10 wells will be drilled in the first phase, Donmez said that there is work to be done on land as well.

“Our work to complete the wells continues. There are also up-hole works. We also have work to do on the seafloor. We are establishing an energy base 2,200 meters below the Black Sea,” he said.

Türkiye unloads gigantic structures underground in a corridor 12 kilometers from one end to the other and eight kilometers from the other, he said adding that they mount it at the head of the wells with underwater robots.

“120 kilometers of deep-sea pipe-laying has been completed. 50 kilometers left. Hopefully, in the first quarter of 2023, in March, we will light this gas on land,” Donmez said.

Minister Donmez said that eight drillings have been completed so far in the Mediterranean, five of which are within Türkiye’s jurisdiction.

Emphasizing that although every drilling does not result in exploration, Donmez said, “It is extremely important to know the site. We have come to know the Mediterranean as much as the Black Sea. We took a break for two years due to calendar congestion. Now we are back in the Mediterranean.”

Citing a recent disagreement over the construction process of Akkuyu nuclear power plant, the minister said, “When the matter came to us, we took initiatives to solve the problems quickly. In such large projects, there may be problems in the field, administratively and financially. Unfortunately, these problems were not overcome.”

The issue was also on the agenda of a recent meeting between Turkish and Russian presidents in Sochi, he said. “We cannot allow disruption in the project schedule. Our expectation is that this problem will be resolved quickly,” Donmez said.