Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that thanks to the TurkStream pipeline, Turkey did not face major gas supply problems like Europe did due to the conflict in Ukraine.
“We are diversifying our gas sources. Relying on a single supply source and a single logistics route carries significant risks. In the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war, our European friends personally experienced these difficulties. Thanks to TurkStream, we were one of the countries that navigated this period with minimal losses,” Erdoğan said while speaking at an energy efficiency forum in Istanbul.
The Turkish leader added that the country has “implemented strategic projects for energy resource extraction and is also gradually launching projects that will transform Turkey into an international energy hub and corridor.” “We have diversified our suppliers in energy segments where we have external dependencies. In 2003, there were only five countries from which we sourced natural gas. Today, Botaş operates in gas import and export with 34 countries,” Erdoğan reported. He recalled that as part of diversification efforts, “the first volumes of Turkmen gas arrived in Turkey in March 2025” and “this volume has now reached 465 million cubic meters.”
Speaking about oil and gas production in Turkey, Erdoğan noted that “five years ago, the largest natural gas discovery in the republic's history was made in the Black Sea, with reserves of 785 billion cubic meters.” “We are currently supplying 4 million households with this gas. By 2026, this number will reach 8 million, and by 2028–16 million,” the president announced.
He stated that Turkey now obtains 160,000 barrels of oil from domestic sources. “However, we still have a significant path ahead. We have expanded our fleet of seismic and drilling vessels and accelerated exploration activities. We currently operate four drilling and two seismic vessels, ranking fifth globally in this field. With the commissioning of new vessels, we will rise to fourth place,” Erdoğan added.
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Photo: Official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS