Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced that Türkiye will drill 153 oil exploration wells this year, primarily in the southeastern Gabar region of Şırnak, along with areas in Van, Diyarbakır, and near the northern Türkiye-Syria border.
By March 2025, Türkiye’s daily oil production reached 132,000 barrels, driven by an expansion of energy operations with new wells and equipment aimed at boosting domestic production to meet growing demand, Bayraktar shared with state-run Anadolu Agency.
A historic oil discovery was made in Gabar in 2021, and production from the 95 wells currently in operation has reached 78,000 barrels. This increase in output supports Türkiye’s goal of achieving energy independence, as domestic exploration and production efforts gain momentum.
Bayraktar explained that the success of the Gabar discovery has led to intensified production efforts, contributing $2 billion annually to Türkiye’s economy.
He also highlighted Türkiye’s significant strides in ensuring natural gas security, particularly through the Sakarya Gas Field discovery in the Black Sea in 2020. Gas production began just 32 months after the discovery, and Türkiye has made remarkable progress in transporting gas from the field to the mainland.
Currently, the Sakarya Gas Field produces 7 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas per day, enough to supply approximately 3 million households. Türkiye aims to increase production to 9.5 mcm daily by the end of March.
To enhance capacity, Türkiye added a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit in September 2024. The FPSO, which is currently being maintained in Çanakkale, will be deployed to Filyos in the Black Sea in May. By mid-2026, the FPSO will process an additional 10 mcm of natural gas daily, boosting total production from the Sakarya field to 20 mcm, enough to meet the daily needs of 8.5 million households.
By 2028, Türkiye aims to meet all domestic natural gas needs with gas produced from the Sakarya Gas Field.
As part of the 2025 Investment Program, Türkiye plans to allocate 259 billion Turkish liras for the energy sector, with 140.7 billion liras earmarked for oil and natural gas exploration and production, and 45.8 billion liras for natural gas storage and transmission infrastructure.