An unconventional oil exploration program in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır could produce two to three times as much crude as the Gabar field in neighboring Şırnak if successful, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.
Bayraktar told CNN Türk that horizontal drilling was being tested across four fields covering about 600 square kilometers north of Bismil to extract oil believed to be trapped in rock formations.
The wider prospective zone extends across more than 7,000 square kilometers, he said.
If the trials prove successful, hundreds of wells could be drilled with foreign partners.
Gabar currently produces more than 83,000 barrels a day and contributes at least $2 billion to the Turkish economy annually, according to Bayraktar.
The minister said Türkiye, which imports about two-thirds of the energy it consumes, was also preparing a plan for 2035 that envisages up to 10 million electric vehicles.
The government aims to raise installed wind and solar capacity from 45,000 megawatts to 120,000 megawatts over the next decade.
