Turkey Keen to Move Forward with Shale Gas Hunt

Reuters reported that Turkey is planning to increase the exploration of basins in its Southeast, East and Western Thrace areas in the hope of finding sizeable shale gas reserves. Turkey’s interest is motivated by its desire to reduce its energy import dependency.

As quoted in the market news:

Estimates of how big Turkey’s shale gas reserves might be vary wildly.

One senior energy official said data from some international bodies suggested Turkey could have a massive 20 trillion cubic metres (cbm) of total reserves. Another industry expert said proven reserves so far stood at just 6-7 billion cbm.

That compares to an estimated 1.2 trillion cbm (42 trillion cubic feet), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in Ukraine, where Shell signed a landmark $10 billion shale gas deal last month.