Page 44 - 7. State Of Environment Report Of Türkiye

4.2. Natural Gas

In 2022, Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) produced a total of 408.67 million Sm of natural
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gas from natural gas fields, with natural gas reserves of 3.1 billion m . Of this production, 99 per
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cent was obtained from Thrace and 1 per cent from the Southeastern Anatolia Region. The crude
oil equivalent of the natural gas produced is 2.4 million barrels. Natural gas demand varies sea-
sonally and reaches its highest level in winter months with the increase in housing demand. In
order to ensure more effective and sustainable natural gas supply security in Türkiye, natural gas
storage capacity has been increased in the last 4 years.

In marine areas, TPAO’s successive discoveries in the Black Sea are noteworthy for their contri-
bution to the country’s marine reserves. On 21 August 2020, TPAO made a discovery in Sakarya
field in the Western Black Sea with a reserve of 405 billion m (approximately 2.5 billion vpe).
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On 4 June 2021, a second discovery was made with the Amasra-1 well, also located in the Black
Sea, with a reserve of 135 billion m , bringing the total reserves in the Black Sea to 540 billion m .
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Finally, in December 2022, 58 billion m of reserves were discovered in the Çaycuma-1 well with
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the Fatih Drilling Ship (TPAO Sector Report, 2022).

Table -4 Underground Natural Gas Storage and Back Generation Capacity (Energy Market Regulatory Authority
(EMRA), 2024)
Year Natural Gas Storage Capacity, billion Sm 3 Back Production Capacity, million m /day
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2019 3.44 45

2020 3.84 45
2021 4.2 68
2022 5.8 115

Table 5 Domestic Natural Gas Sales Amounts (%*) (EMRA, 2024)

Year Electric Housing Industry Wholesale
2019 24.1 41.1 32 2.8
2020 28.27 32.35 26.31 13.07

2021 34.81 27.87 25.54 11.78
2022 27.10 33.64 25.00 14.26
* It shows the domestic sales percentages realized by BOTAŞ and does not express national consumption percentages.
4.3. Coal

Coal is the most common fuel used for electricity generation. Coal is expected to remain the
most widely used fuel for electricity generation for the foreseeable future.

Lignite is a type of coal that is generally used as fuel in thermal power plants due to its low
calorific value and high ash and moisture content. However, it is a frequently used energy raw
material because it is found in large amounts in the earth’s crust. Hard coal is in the group of high
calorific coals.

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