Turkey’s Perfectly Timed Gas Discovery

Turkey’s energy import bill has been a major drag on its economy for decades. In 2019, the country imported $41 billion worth of energy among which 45 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Besides LNG imports, the most important exporters are Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Turkey's high import dependency explains the enthusiasm with which the discovery of the gas field was announced.

There is widespread skepticism about whether the publication was too premature. However, it can be better understood if geopolitical factors and the near expiration…