Today's Zaman: Turkish shale gas search stalled amid security woes

Fracking operations on a shale gas field in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır have been stalled due to rising violence in the region, International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE) President-elect Gürkan Kumbaroğlu told Today's Zaman on Friday.

Turkey's most important shale gas field, Sarıbuğday-1, is estimated to hold natural gas reserves that could meet the country's demand for seven years, but fracking operations necessary to access the gas can only be continued once the violence has ended, according to Kumbaroğlu.

Every year, Turkey imports upwards of $20 billion worth of natural gas to satisfy its domestic demand, while the Sarıbuğday-1 reserves have been calculated to hold $140 billion in shale gas, a natural gas found in shale rock formations.

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