Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.19 / Trend, A. Taghiyeva /
Merty Energy, a company engaged in the exploration of hydrocarbons in Turkey, discovered significant natural gas reserves in the Silivri district of Istanbul at depths of 450-500 meters, the Habertürk newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Gas production will begin at the "Chayirlyk-1" field. Reserve sizes have not yet been determined but extraction will begin within the next two to three months.
It is expected that the gas reserves at the field will amount to several billion cubic meters.
According to the Energy Ministry of Turkey, it is expected that in 2013, Turkey will increase its gas production up to 700 million cubic meters with an annual consumption of 47.6 billion cubic meters.
Turkey is actively searching for oil and gas in order to reduce dependence on oil and gas products from overseas. Earlier in January of this year, reserves of high quality oil were discovered at the Magrip field in the Kurtalan district of the Siirt province of Turkey.
In addition, the country is engaged in oil exploration in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.