Turkey has discovered 1 billion barrels of oil in a field in the southeast province of Sirnak, Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) said late on Wednesday, in the largest onshore oil find in the country.
TPAO has drilled 2,771 meters deep so far and found a more than 162-meter light oil-bearing reservoir, it said, with further prospects to be explored in the area.
The well, called Sehit Aybuke Yalcin-1 and located 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Cizre town, currently produces some 10,000 barrels of oil per day, TPAO said.
The state oil company said it would drill back-to-back appraisal wells and construct the full field development plan by the end of the year. The production target is set for 100,000 barrels per day, more than doubling Turkey's oil production.
Turkey, which has little oil and gas, imports nearly all of its energy needs. The country consumed 246 million barrels of imported crude oil in 2022, in addition to 29 million barrels of locally produced crude oil, according to official data.
Turkey is dependent on imports from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as liquefied natural gas imports. Ankara is also developing a 710 billion cubic-meter natural gas field in the Black Sea for production.
(Reuters - Reporting by Can Sezer/Writing by Ali KucukgocmenEditing by Mark Potter)
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