Turkey is preparing to take its first delivery from a large natural gas discovery in the Black Sea as President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an seeks to burnish his credentials just weeks before a tightly contested election.
Turkish Petroleum, the state oil and gas company, will on Thursday flip the switch on the Sakarya gasfield development, roughly three years after making the find, according to its chief executive, Melih Han Bilgin.
The first deliveries from Turkey’s most ambitious energy production project come just ahead of the May 14 presidential election, in which Erdo?an is locked in a close race against his chief opponent, Kemal K?l??daro?lu. Erdo?an last month said that the government would cut gas bills for consumers and businesses as part of a push to help ease cost pressures at a time when inflation is running above 50 per cent.