“Turkey has found 135 billion cubic meters (bcm) of additional natural gas in the southern Black Sea, increasing the total discovery in the region to 540 bcm,” Erdoğan said.

He also added that he expected further “good news” to come from the region.

Last year, Turkey's first national drillship Fatih discovered 405 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in the country's biggest discovery.

The Kanuni vessel is completing exploratory tests at the Turkali-2 well, while the Fatih drillship is drilling in Turkali-3 well, both in the Sakarya field.

Natural gas production from the field is expected to begin in 2023.