Türkiye seeking to expand oil, gas explorations abroad

ANKARA

Türkiye is seeking to carry out oil and natural gas exploration activities in different regions in the world through partnerships, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

Türkiye has put countries and regions on its radar, he noted.

“One of them is Somalia… We also want to take part in different projects in Iraq,” the minister told a group of journalists in Ankara.

Sending off the Oruç Reis seismic research vessel to Somalia for oil and gas exploration marks the beginning of a “historic era” for Türkiye, Bayraktar said.

“We currently have partnerships in three oil fields in Northern Iraq, but we want to expand this. We also want to be more active in Iraq’s Basra and Libya.”

He recalled that Türkiye recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Sao Tome and Principe with the aim of developing energy cooperation between the two countries.

Türkiye may also explore oil and natural gas in Sao Tome and Principe, Bayraktar said.

In addition to pipelines, Türkiye has been launching liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) in recent years to supply natural gas in the form of LNG, the minister said.

The long-term LNG supply agreements sealed recently are part of their supply diversification strategy, he noted, adding that Türkiye can easily supply half of its gas needs as LNG via vessels.

“This is one component of diversification. Another is to increase the capability and volume of the storage facilities,” Bayraktar said.

“We currently have a storage capacity of 5.8 billion cubic meters. We are filling them quickly as we enter winter. We want to enter winter with full storage facilities.”

He also commented on the possible effects of the tension between Iran and Israel on Türkiye’s energy supply security.

Türkiye does not have oil and petroleum products trade with Iran, but it procures 7-8 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from that country, which corresponds to around 15 percent of Türkiye’s need, said Bayraktar.

If there is a problem with natural gas pipelines and natural gas infrastructure, there may be a situation that may affect Türkiye in terms of supply,” he added.

“Our main strategy is to diversify our supplies. We have made a significant infrastructure investment in order to expand our sources rather than depending on a single country or a few countries,” he noted.

The government accelerated efforts to reduce Türkiye’s dependence on foreign oil and natural gas with the “National Energy and Mining Policy” announced in 2016, Bayraktar said, noting that the daily oil production of public and private companies in the country has reached around 110,000 barrels.

Bayraktar also said that he would travel to Russia this week.

“There is an international gas conference there. We can also make different agreements with our existing suppliers,” he said.