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Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the world is living through "the biggest energy crisis of modern history," announcing that the Osman Gazi floating production platform, built at what he called the country's largest construction site, will be sent to its permanent position in the Black Sea toward the end of October.
"We are currently living through the biggest energy crisis of modern history. This is a very significant crisis that affects the oil markets, the natural gas markets, the energy markets as a whole, both in terms of supply and, frankly, in financial terms," he said.
"We are making our preparations for this crisis. We are making a great effort, especially on the supply side, to ensure our country doesn't face any difficulties," Bayraktar said, speaking after visiting the platform in Filyos, in Zonguldak province.
Bayraktar said the security of the TurkStream and Blue Stream natural gas pipelines carrying Russian gas through the Black Sea is of major importance.
He said Türkiye welcomed recent appeals for Russia and Ukraine not to target each other's energy infrastructure.
"A few days ago, there were calls and recommendations made between Russia and Ukraine urging that energy infrastructure not become a target, and Allah willing, an understanding will be reached on this point. We consider this very important," Bayraktar said.
He said Türkiye is taking precautions in coordination with the Naval Forces Command and the Coast Guard Command against threats that sea mines or unmanned naval vehicles (USVs) could pose to Turkish-operated ships in the Black Sea.
"But we are aware that we are in a period in which we need to work very carefully and with great risk awareness," Bayraktar said.
Bayraktar said roughly 7,000 people are currently working at the Filyos site.
"I can say that this is essentially Türkiye's largest construction site right now. We call it a floating production platform, but in reality we are building what amounts to an industrial facility. This industrial facility contains 21 separate factories within it," he said.
Bayraktar recalled that the platform was sent off from the Bosphorus on May 29, 2025, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in attendance, beginning its reactivation process.
"We've now reached the final stage of that. We have about a month ahead of us. Allah willing, once we complete this, we will send it to its operational position in the Black Sea, as I said. Our goal is to ignite the first gas at the flare tower you see here by the end of this year, and with that, we will have completed the second phase of the Black Sea's Sakarya Gas Field," Bayraktar said.
Bayraktar said the Sakarya Gas Field's first phase, produced via onshore facilities, already supplies enough natural gas for roughly 4 million homes.
"In the second phase, we will produce an additional 10 million cubic meters on this floating production platform, meeting the natural gas needs of another 4 million households. As a result, Allah willing, we will be meeting 8 million households' needs with our own gas," he said.
"We are currently facing a major global energy crisis, friends. So amid this painful, difficult process affecting both natural gas and oil, this increase in our own production carries a very different significance. Today the world faces many difficulties when it comes to supply security. We are, frankly, trying to protect our country from this ring of fire, and thank Allah, we haven't experienced any malfunction or difficulty so far," Bayraktar said.
Bayraktar said the platform's daily gas output corresponds to roughly $10 million at current gas prices.
"This floating production platform will contribute $3.5 billion annually to our economy. So in this sense as well, we will be bringing online a facility that is very important for our country's economy," he said, noting that around 6 kilometers of cabling is being laid daily at the site, with a total of 642 kilometers of electrical cable and nearly 30 kilometers of piping to be completed once finished.
He said a sister platform to Osman Gazi is planned to arrive in 2028, which would quadruple production, with work on that project already underway.
Bayraktar said Türkiye entered the summer with its natural gas storage facilities full and remains ready for winter, even as global natural gas, oil and diesel prices have risen sharply.
"Even heading into summer, we actually filled our natural gas storage facilities and are ready for winter. But at the same time, the financial effects worldwide, natural gas prices, oil prices have risen very significantly. Diesel prices have risen. So in that regard, I can say this: the gas this facility will produce each day corresponds to a financial value of roughly $10 million at today's gas prices," he said.
Bayraktar said Türkiye must supply fuel to roughly 32-33 million vehicles daily, natural gas to 22 million households, particularly during winter, and electricity to 42 million subscribers.
"Thank Allah, we make our plans with several alternatives. That is, if we face any supply disruption from a particular country, if our natural gas is cut off, what the alternative could be, we have done all this work," Bayraktar said.
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