Turkey discovers oil well with reserves est. at $12 billion: Erdogan

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Dec 2022 21:42
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Turkish President announces to his government the discovery of an oil field with around 150 million barrels southeast of the country.

A pump jack at Raman oil field in southeastern Batman province, Turkey, June 6, 2015 (Shutterstock).

Turkey discovers an oil field with net reserves estimated at $12 billion southeast of the country.

The discovery was announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who earlier said that there is "good news" regarding oil field explorations in Turkey.

"Turkey has discovered 150 million barrels of net oil reserves in the areas of Mount Gabar [Shirnak province southeast of the country]. The value of the reserves is approximately $12 billion," Erdogan told the government during an address according to Anadolu agency.

The discovered field is, "one of the 10 largest discoveries made onshore in 2022," Erdogan said.

Turkey is growing to become a major market player when it comes to energy imports.

In addition to the Gas Hub project that will allow Russian gas to reach the EU through Turkey, Turkey has emerged as a new route for Russian oil supplies to the EU, revealed earlier the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Ankara has doubled its imports of Russian crude since the Ukraine war began in late February. The oil is subsequently processed in Turkey, where shipments of refined oil products to the EU and the US increased by 85 percent between July and August, according to CREA.

"Turkish refiners are therefore providing an outlet for Russia's oil exports, by refining products for markets that are either not willing to import Russian crude oil directly or don't have the refining capacity to process it," according to the report.