Türkiye's energy minister celebrated on Thursday the 50th anniversary of the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ), highlighting that the grid operator transported around 14.5 billion barrels of oil through its nearly 3,500-kilometer (2,175-miles) pipeline network.
Speaking at an event marking the anniversary of the state-owned pipeline operator, held in the capital, Ankara, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said that the company expanded its operations to include natural gas trading and transportation just a decade after its founding in 1974.
Around 28.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas were supplied to Türkiye through the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP) project, which was launched in 2018 and approximately 40 bcm was delivered from Russia from the beginning of 2020 through the Turkish Stream project.
Bayraktar noted that Türkiye currently has a storage capacity of 5.8 bcm, of which 4.6 bcm is in Istanbul's Silivri district and 1.2 bcm in Tuz Lake storage facility in central Türkiye.
Türkiye aims to reach a total storage capacity of 12 bcm in the next five years, allowing the country to store 20% of the natural gas used annually, he added.
The country also made major investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and floating storage and regasification units (FSRU), which helped the country increase its daily LNG receiving capacity from 30 million cubic meters (mcm) in 2016 to approximately 160 mcm as of today.
"This achievement has enabled us to efficiently meet half of Türkiye's natural gas needs with LNG," Bayraktar said.
The minister also said that BOTAŞ trades natural gas with 34 countries, including Azerbaijan, Algeria and the U.S., within the LNG and natural gas agreements framework.
"Türkiye has become a leading country that produces its own natural gas, has diversified its supply sources, has export capabilities thanks to its strong infrastructure and supply portfolio and contributes to the supply security of its region and Europe," Bayraktar added.
Over the years, the nation has expanded its inventory by ramping up its hydrocarbon explorations in the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean to curb external dependence.
Türkiye's advancements and discoveries in the energy sector are positively reflected in the country's statistics, with the crude oil and natural gas extraction index reaching a record high of 147.8 in June, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Thursday.
According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the index for calendar-adjusted crude oil and natural gas extraction increased to 147.8 in June, up from 115.7 in June 2023.
In Türkiye, where the extraction of crude oil and natural gas has accelerated, the index, initially recorded at 69.6 in January 2005, averaged around 75 until 2021.
Following the country's largest natural gas discovery in the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea in 2020, the index, which increased to 99.4 in December of that year, surpassed the 100 threshold for the first time in May 2021.
The index was recorded at 112.9 in December 2022, following the discovery of crude oil in Gabar Mountain, located in Türkiye's southeastern province of Şırnak.
Meanwhile, the index, which climbed to 146.1 in March 2024, marking a 32.2% increase year-over-year, reached a peak of 147.8 in June.
The foundation for this increase was established in 2017 when Türkiye's first national drill ship, Fatih, joined the fleet of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), Aziz Camci, chairperson of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Platform Association, PETFORM, told AA.
Camci stated that record production increases were observed following the largest natural gas discovery in Turkish history in the Sakarya Gas Field by the Fatih drilling ship on Aug. 21, 2020.
"While Türkiye's total natural gas production was approximately 440 million cubic meters upon first discovery, production from the Sakarya Gas Field alone has reached 5.5 million cubic meters per day since the field began operations," Camci said.
Touching upon other discoveries, he suggested that Türkiye has the potential to increase its oil and natural gas extraction index further.
