Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Friday that the country has discovered the largest natural gas deposits in its history, a field in the Black Sea that would contain 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas, adding that there is a high possibility that other resources may be discovered in the same area, Reuters reports.

“I want to share the good news with you. Turkey has discovered the largest natural gas deposits in its history in the Black Sea,” Erdogan said, adding that Turkey plans to start using these resources in 2023 and become a net exporter of energy, according to Agerpres.

In recent years, Turkey has bought three offshore drilling vessels and significantly expanded energy exploration operations in the Black Sea and the disputed waters of the eastern Mediterranean. Ankara authorities are interested in finding significant energy reserves that will allow Turkey to reduce its imports from Iran, Iraq and Russia.

Last month, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez announced that Turkish drilling vessel Fatih had begun exploratory drilling in the Black Sea Tuna-1 perimeter. “We will search every square meter of our territorial waters for Turkey’s energy independence. If there is anything, we will certainly find it,” Donmez said in a message posted on his Twitter account on July 20th.