Türkiye produced a record 3.4 million barrels of crude oil in November, half of it coming from the Gabar mountain region in the southeast province of Şırnak, a senior official said Tuesday.
"As of today, our daily production in Gabar has exceeded 61,000 barrels," Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said at a petroleum industry meeting in Istanbul.
The pace of crude oil and natural gas extraction in Türkiye has picked up significantly in recent years with major discoveries on its northern coast and the start of oil production in Şırnak, where authorities aim to lift daily output to 100,000 barrels.
Şırnak province had long been a victim of PKK terrorist attacks and has suffered from underdevelopment for decades. Years of counterterrorism operations have eventually enabled a major transformation of the region that is now home to one of the country's most important oil reserves.
The output in Gabar gradually rose from 25,000 bpd in October to 30,000 bpd in December before reaching 35,000 this January. Türkiye is estimated to consume about 1 million barrels of oil a day.
Türkiye is almost entirely dependent on imports to cover its energy needs, which left it vulnerable to rising costs that surged following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Over the years, it ramped up its hydrocarbon explorations in the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean to curb external dependence.
The Black Sea is already home to a reserve that is believed to contain 710 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas. The Sakarya gas field off the northwestern Zonguldak province was gradually discovered in August 2020.
The output there has reached 7 million cubic meters (mcm) per day. It is expected to increase to 10 million cubic meters daily by the first quarter of 2025, meeting around 7% of Türkiye's domestic consumption.
Last year, Türkiye purchased a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) platform, which is expected to be operational by 2026 and help Türkiye double its gas production at the Black Sea reserve.
With the activation of the FPSO, daily production will reach 20 million cubic meters by 2026, Bayraktar said Tuesday.
Aligning with national energy and mining policies, Türkiye has shifted its focus to previously unexplored regions for oil, Bayraktar said.
The Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) produces 80% of the oil and natural gas extracted in Türkiye. "With 3,692 employees, it operates in more than 130 production sites in five regions," the minister said.
As one of the leading companies in Türkiye and the region, he said TPAO operates in various countries ranging from Azerbaijan to Iraq and Russia to Somalia.
Türkiye wants TPAO to be more active and stronger abroad and increase oil and natural gas production through international partnerships, including in Iraq, Libya, Africa, Central Asia, the Caucasus region and South America, Bayraktar said.
The officials have often reiterated the aim to continue to have different operations, research and studies while seeking to strengthen energy security.
Türkiye sent TPAO's seismic research vessel Oruç Reis to Somalia to search for oil and natural gas after the countries agreed on energy cooperation.
The ship, which started operating at the end of October, will conduct seismic surveys for oil and natural gas in three areas where Türkiye has secured exploration licenses, said Bayraktar.
The mission is expected to last approximately seven months and will involve collecting seismic data for both oil and natural gas.
"Oruç Reis will conduct seismic exploration for oil and natural gas across three licensed areas, each spanning 5,000 square kilometers, over the course of seven months," said Bayraktar.
"Should these seismic studies yield positive results, we aim to proceed to the drilling phase."