T眉rkiye's oil production in the southeastern Gabar region has exceeded 30,000 barrels per day (bpd), country's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Thursday.
鈥淲e found oil in Gabar,鈥� Bayraktar said referring to the region in T眉rkiye鈥檚 southeastern Sirnak province. 鈥淲e extract oil in Gabar and now, we have exceeded 30,000 bpd," he said, according to a statement from the ministry.
"As we did in Gabar, we will explore natural gas within our inland borders and end T眉rkiye鈥檚 reliance on energy imports," he added.
Bayraktar鈥檚 remarks came during a meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara, where he discussed about various issues including the Black Sea natural gas, Gabar oil discovery and nuclear energy.
Noting that one of the biggest obstacles to becoming a great and powerful country is T眉rkiye鈥檚 dependence on imported energy resources, Bayraktar said T眉rkiye aims to be fully independent in energy "within the next 30 years.鈥�
Last week, the country's state-owned oil company Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) announced that the country's daily oil production in the Gabar region reached 30,000 barrels.
鈥淩ecord oil production at Gabar, 30,000 barrels per day (bpd),鈥� the TPAO said on X.
T眉rkiye 鈥渞eached a daily oil production of 30,000 barrels from 23 wells鈥� in recently-discovered fields in the Gabar Mountain region, it added.
The company set its production target as 35,000 bpd for 2023 and 100,000 bpd for 2024.
The country has boosted its efforts for oil and gas exploration activities since 2020. The oil production reached record levels with the newly-discovered reserves in the southeastern Gabar region, bringing the country to its goal of achieving complete energy independence.
Reporting by Fuat Kabakci
Writing by Handan Kazanci
Anadolu Agency