Turkey's Yavuz vessel will carry out new oil and gas drilling in the Mediterranean on Monday or Tuesday morning, Fatih Dönmez, Turkey's energy and natural resources minister announced on Monday.
Speaking during the 10th Turkey Energy Summit in Antalya, Minister Dönmez said that the Yavuz vessel arrived in situ on Saturday in preparation for the latest round of drilling, which is expected to start today or tomorrow.
Turkey remains resolute in its defense of the rights of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Turkish Cypriots to acquire resources around the island, the rights of which the United Nations is aware of, he said.
"We won't give way to energy piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean," Dönmez said, referring to the Greek Cypriot's unilateral drilling activities off the island, adding that Turkey will rightfully take its place and conduct activities sanctioned under international law.
This exploration is a project of self-sufficiency for Turkey, which has equipped the drill ships in the East Mediterranean with local technology and Turkish engineers. This self-sufficiency also extends to the country's other gas projects.
"We have quadrupled our current LNG capacity compared to 2016. With the commissioning of our Saros Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) facility, we will be able to meet approximately half of the daily peak consumption from our LNG infrastructure," he explained.
"I hope our self-sufficiency will open doors to better days ahead for us," he concluded.
