Türkiye's petrol and natural gas production reached record highs in August, the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said in a written statement on Thursday.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated that on Aug. 17, Türkiye's total crude oil production has reached 107,621 barrels, and added, "We also set a production record in natural gas this month. On Aug. 15, we broke the production record with 7.6 million cubic meters (mcm)."
The pace of crude oil and natural gas extraction in Türkiye has picked up notably in recent years with major discoveries on its northern coast and the oil production in the southeastern province of Şırnak, where authorities aim to lift daily output to 100,000 barrels.
The efforts to boost domestic production and thus curb energy imports on which Türkiye relies have bore fruit as new daily records were broken this month. In its statement, the ministry reiterated that its efforts to increase the production of both oil and natural gas continue.
"We declared 2024 as the year to increase oil and natural gas production. Thank God, we are moving towards this goal with firm steps," Bayraktar said.
"In August, our oil and natural gas production reached the highest levels in history," he added.
"On Aug. 17, our crude oil production was 107,621 barrels. Of this production, 95,656 barrels were realized by TPAO (Turkish Petroleum Corporation). On the same day, we reached a production figure of 47,058 barrels from wells in the Gabar mountain area," the statement further said.
Moreover, Bayraktar emphasized that a production record was also set in natural gas this month, recalling that the output from the vast Black Sea field alone surged above 6 mcm.
"On Aug. 15, we broke the production record with 7.6 mcm. TPAO again took the lion's share of this production. On Aug. 15, TPAO produced 7.33 mcm of natural gas," said the minister.
He added that the production from the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea alone on Aug. 15 was nearly 6.15 mcm.
Earlier this month, the minister hailed Türkiye's efforts regarding exploration, conveying the aim to lift the output from this field to 10 mcm as of the following year.
While highlighting the target of expanding current reserves, he also touched upon new explorations, saying they would continue to have different operations, research, and studies while seeking to strengthen energy security.
Most notably, Türkiye is expected to send its research vessel Oruç Reis to explore offshore oil blocks in Somalia in the upcoming period.
In the statement on Thursday, Bayraktar again underscored the nation's commitment to ending its dependence on foreign energy through its own ships, engineers, and resources under the National Energy and Mining Policy.
"In line with the vision of the 'Century of Türkiye' proposed by our president, we will further increase our production with new drilling and hopefully new discoveries both on land and at sea, both domestically and abroad."