Estimated 6 billion barrel shale oil reserve in southeast Turkey, minister says

U.S. oil producer Continental Resources estimates there is a shale oil reserve of 6.1 billion barrels in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir Basin, the Turkish energy minister said.

If confirmed, such reserves would place Turkey above some OPEC members such as Congo or Gabon, and other major producers such as the UK.

Continental Resources and Turkish national oil company TPAO signed a joint venture agreement in March to develop shale fields in the basin.

"Turkey's current annual (crude) oil import amounts to 365 million barrels. So a 6.1 billion barrel reserve is a great figure," Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told reporters during a visit to Sirnak province in southeast Turkey this week.

The minister previously heralded the March agreement as "a new era" with Turkey viewing shale oil and gas discoveries as a key development. It is aiming to produce shale gas from the northwestern Thrace region, Bayraktar said. 

"Shale oil and shale gas could be a game changer," he said.

Continental Resources did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, President Tayyip Erdogan also announced a discovery of a new reserve of 75 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas during drilling works in the Black Sea.

Turkey, now covers more than 90% of its energy needs with imports, aims to cut its import bill and boost supply security by developing domestic resources and expanding international partnerships in oil and gas exploration.

Ahead of presidential elections two years ago, Turkey announced its "largest ever onshore oil discovery" of 1 billion barrels of crude in Sirnak. It had an API gravity of 41, representing a lighter grade than Turkey's current production.

In 2024, Turkey produced 127,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, while it imported an equivalent of nearly 1 million bpd of oil and refined products, according to the country's energy ministry and regulator. Discounted Russian oil and refined products accounted for two-thirds of Turkey's imports last year, energy regulator data show.