Turkiye discovers 150m barrels of oil reserves worth $12bn

Turkiye has discovered 150 million barrels of net oil reserves valued at an estimated $12 billion, according to an announcement by President Recep Tayip Erdogan yesterday.

Erdogan revealed the massive find during a cabinet meeting, stating: “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 dollars.”

“We produce 5,000 barrels (of oil) per day in four wells in this region [Shirnak province southeast of the country], which has a very high oil quality,” he added.

According to Anadolu Agency, Ankara aims to increase its daily output to 100,000 barrels next year which will be the Republic of Turkiye’s centenary. The Turkish president also said that daily production of the state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation, which was around 40,000 barrels five years ago, has increased to 65,000 barrels today.

“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,” Erdogan said.

Bolstering Turkiye’s bid to become an important regional energy hub, in 2020 the discovery of natural gas in the Black Sea was announced with production set to begin next year.

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