Turkey's strategic location makes it a natural "energy bridge" between major oil and gas producing areas in the Middle East and Caspian Sea regions on one hand and consumer markets in Europe on the other Oil consumption has increased in recent years in Turkey, and this trend is expected to continue, with growth of 2-3% annually in coming years. The annual oil consumption of the country is around 31.3 million tons, while 83% of total consumption is supplied from imports and only 17% is supplied from indigenous production. Oil provides around 43% of Turkey's total energy requirements, but its share is declining (as the share of natural gas rises). On the other hand, due to diversification efforts of energy sources, use of natural gas was newly introduced into the Turkish economy in 1987 and has been growing rapidly. Turkey's natural gas reserves seem limited and current gas production in the country meets 2.8% of domestic consumption requirements. The annual natural gas consumption of Turkey is around 14.7 billion m(3) and is assumed to increase by 12% per annum. Turkish natural gas use is projected to increase dramatically in coming years, with the prime consumers expected to be industry and power plants. Turkey has chosen natural gas as the preferred fuel for the massive amount of new power plant capacity to be added in coming years.