Over 150 oil exploration wells to be drilled this year: Minister

ANKARA

A total of 153 oil exploration wells will be drilled this year, mainly in the southeastern city of Şırnak's Gabar region, as well as in Van, Diyarbakır and along the northern Türkiye-Syria border, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

Türkiye's daily oil production reached 132,000 barrels by the beginning of March 2025, as the country expands its energy operations with new wells and equipment to increase domestic production and meet growing demand, the minister told state-run Anadolu Agency.

Türkiye made a historic oil discovery in Gabar in 2021. Currently, production from the 95 wells has reached 78,000 barrels, Bayraktar revealed.

The increased output is in line with Türkiye's goal of becoming energy-independent, as exploration and production efforts gain momentum through domestic resources.

Bayraktar explained that following the oil discovery in Gabar, efforts were intensified to boost production, which now contributes $2 billion annually to Türkiye's economy.

Bayraktar also highlighted Türkiye's significant contribution to its natural gas supply security with the discovery of the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea in 2020.

Production began just 32 months after the natural gas discovery, Bayraktar noted. "Türkiye achieved tremendous success in transporting gas from the discovery site to the mainland," he said.

Currently, 7 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas is produced daily from the Sakarya Gas Field, enough to meet the gas needs of approximately 3 million households, he added.

The country aims to increase the field's daily gas production capacity to 9.5 mcm by the end of March.

Türkiye expanded its fleet with a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit last September, which will be used to increase the field's natural gas production capacity.

Bayraktar noted that the FPSO, currently undergoing maintenance in the province of Çanakkale, will be sent to Filyos in the Black Sea region in May.

By the second half of 2026, the unit will be transported to the natural gas field in the Black Sea to process an additional 10 mcm of natural gas daily for 20 years, he explained.

The FSPO will boost production from the Sakarya field to 20 mcm by mid-2026. "This amount meets the daily natural gas needs of 8.5 million households," Bayraktar said.

Through these efforts, Türkiye aims to meet the natural gas needs of all households with gas produced from the Sakarya Gas Field by 2028, he underlined.

Within the scope of the 2025 Investment Program, a total of 259 billion Turkish liras will be invested in the energy sector.

About 140.7 billion liras will be allocated for oil and natural gas exploration and production activities, while 45.8 billion liras will be used for natural gas storage and transmission infrastructure.