Turkey Announces Discovery of Natural Gas Reserves Worth $1B

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Sunday that Turkey had discovered reserves of natural gas in the Gabar Mountain in Şırnak Province. The reserves are estimated to be worth $1 billion.

Turkey had found an even larger reserve of oil, estimated to be worth $12 billion, in the same mountain last December. Erdoğan described the discovery of 150 million barrels of oil as “one of the top 10 onshore discoveries in 2022.”

The mountain currently has four operational wells and is estimated to be producing 5,000 barrels of oil daily.

Last week, Turkey also began production at the Sakarya gas field in the Black Sea. The field is expected to produce 10 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas in its initial phase and eventually up to 40 mcm.

While many countries stopped importing oil and gas from Russia following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Turkey has continued to import both. Turkey’s recent investment in gas and oil production suggests that it may be moving toward increased internal production and decreased imports.

Erdoğan described the Sakarya gas field as a project that will “help us to substantially reduce our country’s foreign dependency on natural gas.”