Recent exploration operations by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in Turkey’s northwestern Thrace region have resulted in a gas discovery in two new wells, an amount that would meet nearly 15 years of the region’s gas demand, local authorities told reporters Wednesday.

Media reports citing local authorities said that as a result of the exploration works, which lasted about five months, a 200-million-cubic-meter (mcm) natural gas reserve was found in the recently drilled wells.

The new wells were discovered in the Pınarca neighborhood of Tekirdağ province by TPAO, which has previously discovered natural gas reserves in the Karaağaç and Kazak Lake areas of the provinces' Kapaklı district.

TPAO drilled 73 wells in 2018 and the company's oil production reached 136,000 barrels per day (bpd) up to February 2019, an all-time high record, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez had said at the time.

Most recently, the exploration operations by Norwegian energy giant Equinor, previously Statoil, and Canadian energy firm Valeura in Thrace reportedly resulted in a gas discovery of 286 billion cubic meters (bcm) in November 2019, corresponding to nearly five years of Turkey’s gas demand.

The discovery in Tekirdağ’s Muratlı district was reportedly located in the field of a local farmer.