Shale (Rock) Gas Potential And Its Importance For Energy Sector Of Turkey

With the industrialization and urbanization the need for energy is continuously increasing and in order to meet this increase new resources with the existing ones are started to be used. In our day the research for new energy resources is continuing. In previous years beside the use of conventional energy resources like coal, natural gas and petroleum, unconventional energy resources as shale (rock) gas, coalfield methane and tight sandstone gases have been started to be used. Among the unconventional gases the use of shale gas is spreading. Despite the fact that shale gas formations include high volume hydrocarbon, because this kind of rocks do not let the flow of petroleum and natural gas shale gas has not been produced economically until recent times. However due to advancement of production technics in USA it has been started to be produced economically. Via the increase in the production of shale gas natural gas production escalated worldwide. In Turkey shale gas has not been used yet despite the increasing need for energy. In 1990 the energy supply was 53 million toe (tonnes oil equivalent) and it became 120,3 million toe in 2013. In 23 years energy need increased 2,3 fold. By year of 2013 turkey’s first primary energy supply consists of 31% natural gas, 28% petroleum, and 26% coal. These three primary fossil resources correspond to 85% of energy supply. 98,8% of consumed natural gas, 92,7% of petroleum and 96% of coal are imported. Consequently, 72% of primary energy supply is imported. It is estimated that primary energy demand will increase in the future as it did in the past. It is anticipated that energy demand will reach 208 million toe in 2035, and so the demand will be double in the next 20 years. Therefore, as a fast developing country in Turkey there will be an increasing energy deficit. As turkey supplies its primary energy need by import shale gas seems to be a hope for the country. According to recent studies in Turkey there are potential shale gas areas. The areas are Southeastern Anatolia, Thrace and Central Anatolia (Tuz Lake and Sivas surroundings). According to some research there are 1,8 trillion m³ producible shale gas in Turkey. According to these research this reserve can meet natural gas need of Turkey approximately for 40 years. As one of the most important energy resource natural gas has the biggest share in Turkey in primary energy resource by 31%. In turkey, almost all of the gases consumed are imported. So this need could be meet by shale gas. By this way an important step can be taken in closing the energy gap. Besides usage of shale gas will decrease the energy dependency of Turkey to foreign countries. The aim of this research is to reveal the potential shale gas areas and shale gas reserves, and examine the importance of this resource in terms of closing the energy gap in Turkey.

Keywords

Shale (rock) gas, unconventional gases, natural gas, energy deficit, Turkey