ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2023) Turkey is set to decrease the share of imported oil to 80% against the background of the discovery of new oil fields in the country, Fatih Donmez, the Turkish minister of energy and natural resources, said on Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the new oil fields were discovered in southeast Turkey at a depth of about 2.6 kilometers (1.2 miles), adding that their capacity was estimated at 100,000 barrels per day, and the estimated worth of oil reserves reaches "tens of billions" of Dollars.
"Turkey has been exploring this region for four years, and you know that the region has been 'cleared' of the terrorist threat. The works have been being carried out - until recently, the snow cover there was 3 centimeters (1.2 inches). The oil there is of very high quality. We produce 80,000 barrels per day. Now these new fields have the potential of 100,000 barrels per day. This mark was our goal by the end of this year. Now our oil imports are 90%, we hope the new fields will reduce our needs to 80%," Donmez said in an interview with Turkish broadcaster Haber Global.
In December, Erdogan announced the discovery of a field in southeastern Turkey with estimated net oil reserves of 150 million barrels worth $12 billion. According to the president, the field was one of the ten largest discovered onshore last year as the country intends to produce 25,000 barrels a day from the field.
