On January 7, Turkish Petroleum (TPAO), the state-owned oil and gas company, announced it had launched a gas collection and distribution unit and laid it to the seafloor in the Turkish part of the Black Sea. According to oil company officials, launching this gas production facility is an important step in establishing the country’s energy security. The gas collection and distribution unit called Chepni has been successfully laid at the bottom of the sea near the Sakarya gas field. In 2020, Turkey made the biggest discovery of natural gas in the Black Sea which was estimated at 540 billion cubic meters. Shortly after, a new reserve of 58 billion cubic meters was found. Later, its estimated volume was revised upwards to 652 billion cubic meters. In total, Turkey's natural gas reserves in the Black Sea amount to 710 billion cubic meters with a market value of $1 trillion.
