Türkiye discovered 150 million barrels of net oil reserves in a southeastern mountain, valued at $12 billion, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Monday.
"We discovered 150 million barrels of net oil reserves in Gabar Mountain. It is one of the top 10 onshore discoveries in 2022. The reserve value is approximately $12 billion," Erdoğan said after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.
"We produce 5,000 barrels (of oil) per day in four wells in this region, which has a very high oil quality," he added.
Erdoğan said the daily production of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), which was around 40,000 barrels five years ago, has increased to 65,000 barrels today.
Ankara aims to increase its daily production to 100,000 barrels in the centennial of the Republic of Türkiye, with more seismic research, more drilling and productivity-enhancing methods, he added.
"While many oil and natural gas companies were throwing in the towel during the pandemic, Turkish Petroleum accelerated its exploration and production activities. With 34 more discoveries in 2021 alone, we added another 71 million barrels to our current reserve," Erdoğan said.
Meanwhile, Türkiye is preparing to start streaming the natural gas from the reserve it discovered in Black Sea waters.
Work on the gas reserve discovered in the Sakarya field, located offshore the northern province of Zonguldak, has been fast-tracked as the energy-dependent country seeks to cover its needs in the years to come.
Due to stream next year, the field is slated to hold around 540 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas that was gradually discovered since August 2020. Türkiye looks to start pumping the gas to its main grid as soon as March of 2023.
Türkiye looks to transfer 10 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas per day as of the first quarter of next year and President Erdoğan said the production would reach its peak by 2026.
Türkiye is almost completely dependent on imports to cover its energy needs, which leaves it vulnerable to rising costs that skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and domestic demand has risen since the coronavirus pandemic.
Türkiye’s annual gas consumption rose from 48 bcm in 2020 to a record 60 bcm in 2021 and is expected to reach 62 bcm to 63 bcm this year, according to official figures.
Last year, 45% of the gas used in Türkiye came from Russia and the rest from Iran and Azerbaijan.