Turkey to begin new oil drilling in Western Black Sea

Turkey's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, announced that new oil-targeted drilling operations will soon commence in the Western Black Sea. Bayraktar noted that while the upcoming drilling project is expected to be long and difficult, it is a key part of the nation's strategy to discover new reserves alongside existing production development.

The energy ministry is currently operating across the Western, Central, and Eastern Black Sea regions to expand existing reserves. In addition to oil exploration, the government aims to double natural gas production from the Black Sea by the end of the year, increasing capacity from enough to supply 4 million households to 8 million households.

Looking toward 2028, the ministry targets a significant increase in domestic production, aiming to reach levels that could cover approximately 80% of the gas currently imported from Russia. The deep-sea drilling fleet has been expanded to six vessels to support these ongoing exploration and production efforts.