Türkiye’s new oil discovery in the country’s southeastern region of Gabar is estimated to increase the country’s overall hydrocarbon production from 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 180,000 bpd, with an estimated yearly financial contribution of around $2.9 billion.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan revealed the news at an opening ceremony for the Karapınar solar power plant and other recently completed projects in central Konya province, announcing that the oil discovery in Cudi and Gabar near southeastern Şırnak province would yield a production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day.
"The reserves are of such high quality that they have the potential to transform the country into an energy exporter," he said.
He also disclosed that the oil discovered at a depth of 2,600 meters (8,530 feet) will be extracted "from 100 wells and will meet one-tenth of our daily consumption."
Erdoğan stated that Türkiye is located in a strategically important region with the world's largest oil deposits, but the country, with oil and gas gushing right next to it, could not benefit from the richness of this geography for years due to the terror threat in the region.
The new discovery, named after a young music teacher, Aybüke Yalçın, who was killed in a terror attack carried out by the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and European Union – in southeastern Türkiye in 2017, will contribute around $2.9 billion to the economy "when you calculate that around 100,000 bpd will be produced from 100 wells," Murat Kalay, secretary-general of the petroleum and natural gas platform association, PETFORM, told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Yalçın, 22, succumbed to her wounds on June 9, 2017, after a brazen attack targeted the car of the Kozluk region mayor in Batman. She was on board a minibus that was part of the convoy.
Proven oil reserves
The recent discovery is one of many oil and gas explorations undertaken by the country since 2020, the success of which has been demonstrated by the start of production from reserves made in December last year in Mount Gabar, where net reserves of 150 million barrels valued at $12 billion were identified.
Dubbed "one of the top 10 onshore discoveries in 2022," the discovery increased the country’s proven oil reserves from 450 million barrels to 600 million barrels.
It came just a few months after the country announced the discovery of $1 billion worth of oil reserves in the Çukurova field in the southeastern Adana province.
With the new oil discovery announced on Monday, Türkiye’s total proved oil reserves are set to double to almost 1.2 billion barrels.
"The production from the newly found wells, of course, will not begin immediately," Kalay explained, noting that the first output could be realized in two or three years.
Kalay stated that the oil discovery could reduce the country's energy import bill and cover 20% of its oil consumption when added to the existing production that covers 10%, while also yielding higher income from sales due to lower refining costs.