Is 100 thousand barrels of production possible in the newly discovered oil reserve in Gabar?

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on May 2 that a new oil reserve has been discovered in the Judi and Gabar Mountains of Şırnak, Turkey. Erdoğan informed that the reserve will meet 10 percent of the daily oil consumption of Turkey and that it will be possible to increase the production capacity to 100 thousand barrels, by opening 100 wells in the region. 

Two oil fields

An oil reserve was discovered in the Gabar Mountain in Şırnak in the southeast of Turkey in December 2022 which was named "Martyr Esma Çevik." The field has 150 billion barrels of oil reserve according to the official announcements and a daily production of 10 thousand barrels has been started, intended to be increased to 25 thousand barrels by the end of 2023. 

The newly discovered oil reserve announced by Erdoğan on May 2 was named the "Martyr Aybüke Yalçın oil reserve." A daily production of 100 thousand barrels is targeted in the works carried out in this field by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO). 

Daily oil production and consumption 

According to the TPAO General Directorate, the daily oil production in Turkey has reached 80 thousand barrels a day by the end of 2022. The daily consumption changes from time to time but it is at a level of 1 million barrels. So at most 8 percent of the oil consumed in Turkey is produced in the country. Turkey imports 90 percent of the oil it uses. 

İnanç Alptuğ Hıdıroğlu, the president of the Petroleum Engineers Chamber,  talked to bianet about the discovered oil reserves in the Judi and Gabar region. He said, "An exploratory well has been dug in the newly discovered field, and in light of the first data obtained from the well, the reserve is one of the biggest land discoveries in our country." 

When asked if 100 thousand barrels of production is possible from 100 wells, Hıdıroğlu responded, "This figure announced now will become clearer and will be updated as we have more data from the field. It may come down or increase after such updates."

İnanç Alptuğ Hıdıroğlu

"We will have more data as more wells are dug"

Hııdıroğlu says that more exploratory wells will be dug and the properties of the reserve will be determined in further detail in the coming period. 

He adds, "The first tests show that a high quality and high reserve field has been discovered. The level of daily production will be seen more clearly after the developments to be made in the field. The values obtained from the first well show that it is possible to reach this target. More data will be obtained after more exploratory wells are dug and the value to be obtained will become clearer." 

70-100 wells should be dug in order to reach the target"

"In fact, the oil produced in the field is ready for consumption at the moment it reaches the surface," says Hıdıroğlu. He adds, "There is no reason for reaching the 100 thousand barrel target in order to start consuming the oil. The crude oil produced after the completion of the first exploratory field will start contributing to the daily consumption of our country. And the daily production will increase with the production from the new locations to be found later with new drillings. In order to reach the target total production value, 70-100 wells have to be dug taking the production values at Martyr Esma Çevik field as an example." 

"Reaching maximum production can take 1 to 3 years"

Hıdıroğlu told bianet that it is possible to dig more than one well in the same drilling point due to the tough field conditions with the current technology. He stated that TPAO is aiming at digging over 200 wells in total in 2023. "This corresponds to 18-20 wells in a month on average. Therefore it is possible that the field can reach the maximum daily production level between 1 to 3 years, although this period may change according to how much of the total resources of the administration will be spared for the Martyr Aybüke Yalçın field," said the president of the chamber. (NT/PE)