Türkiye is seeing indications of oil and natural gas reserves in the eastern Black Sea, the energy minister said Tuesday, hinting at a significant potential for additional discoveries in the area that would build on vast natural gas discovered over the recent years.
Ramped-up hydrocarbon explorations in the Black Sea have been part of Türkiye’s proactive approach to fully assess the region's potential to secure domestic resources to curb its major dependence on external resources.
It has deployed drillships and seismic vessels to accelerate exploration activities and unlock the region's hydrocarbon resources.
Türkiye this April started pumping natural gas into the national grid from a vast reserve in the Black Sea, discovered gradually since August 2020.
The reserve is estimated to hold over 710 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, which Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said was estimated to be worth around half a billion dollars, promising to curb the country's dependence and cut consumer energy prices.
To capitalize on the find, Türkiye launched a drive to build offshore infrastructure, including drilling platforms and pipelines, to facilitate the extraction and transportation from the Black Sea to onshore facilities.
“We have $500 billion worth of gas. There was abnormal pricing and that is why this figure was estimated at $1 trillion last year,” Dönmez told an interview with the private broadcaster CNN Türk.
The initial phase will see a daily gas production of 10 million cubic meters (mcm). Production will be lifted to 40 million cubic meters in the coming period after other wells go into operation.
Now, by conducting explorations off the coasts of the northern provinces of Ordu and Rize, Türkiye aims to tap into what could yield more resources that would diversify the country’s energy portfolio and contribute to its long-term energy sustainability.
“There are signs of oil in the eastern Black Sea. Exploratory drilling will be carried out both off Ordu and off Rize before the end of 2023,” Dönmez said.
While Ordu holds promising prospects for natural gas reserves, Rize is believed to have significant oil potential, he noted.
Dönmez's remarks come just weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a discovery of high-quality oil in southeastern Anatolia, which promises to double Türkiye's daily production capacity.
The reserve in the region of Gabar is estimated to increase the country’s output by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 180,000 bpd, with a yearly financial contribution projected to be around $2.9 billion.
"While we produced 80,000 barrels last year, another 100,000 barrels will be added on top of this. So we will double our production," said Dönmez.
"This means we will cover 22% of our consumption. We will be able to produce 200,000 barrels per day when we get the Martyr Aybüke Yalçın well at full capacity."
Dönmez underscored that they would be drilling between 80 and 100 wells every 100 meters or 500 meters. "As the number of wells increases, the production of the field will also increase," he said.
The minister stressed good results from the first well. "The best quality oil in the world is Arab oil. We have named our latest oil 'Turkish Delight.' In other words, we named the oil coming out of the Aybüke Yalçın well Turkish delight."
