Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Turkey has become the world’s fourth‑largest country in terms of deep‑sea drilling capacity, citing the expansion of its state‑owned fleet and intensified exploration efforts in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and abroad.
Speaking at an AK Party regional strategy meeting in Kayseri, Bayraktar said Turkey shifted away from relying on foreign partners for oil and gas exploration after 2016 and now conducts operations with its own drillships, seismic vessels, engineers and technicians. He listed the fleet as Fatih, Yavuz, Kanuni, Abdülhamid Han, the newly received Çağrı Bey in Somalia, and the Yıldırım drillship deployed to the Black Sea, along with the seismic vessels Oruç Reis and Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa.
Bayraktar said Turkey’s 2020 natural‑gas discovery in the Black Sea marked the largest in the country’s history. Gas from the Sakarya field began flowing to Zonguldak in April 2023 and is now used in about 4 million homes, he said. The government aims to double that figure this year and reach 16–17 million households by 2028.
He said new drilling has begun in the Black Sea and that exploration continues in other regions, including Somalia, where he expressed hope for a future announcement.
Bayraktar also highlighted rising oil production at Gabar Mountain, saying output has reached about 80,000 barrels per day, with an estimated annual contribution of $3.5 billion based on current prices.
On nuclear energy, he said construction of all four reactors at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is ongoing, with the first unit more than 95 percent complete. The goal is to produce the first electricity from the plant by the end of the year.
Bayraktar also addressed mining, saying Turkey has 70 of the world’s 90 mineral types and must integrate them into the economy while enforcing strict environmental and safety standards.
He added that the state continues to subsidize household energy bills, covering about 45 percent of natural‑gas costs and more than half of electricity costs for residential consumers.
AK Party Deputy Chairman Mustafa Elitaş also spoke at the event, criticizing CHP leader Özgür Özel over recent political statements.