Turkey may reach agreements to make acquisitions or further explore for hydrocarbons by the end of the year as part of its target to produce one million barrels of oil and natural gas a day, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Turkey Energy Summit in Istanbul, Bayraktar said Turkey had a production capacity of 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent, adding that the current planning had this reaching 550,000 to 600,000 by 2028.
Reaching the target would mean more than tripling Turkey's current output, and even the level planned for 2028 would leave it well short. Bayraktar's comments show Ankara is looking abroad, to Africa, Lebanon and elsewhere, to close the gap.
"There may be more news, good news by the end of the year. We may buy, acquire companies. We are making partnerships and will continue to do so. There may be new fields, new countries, it could be Africa. Therefore, we want to reach that one million barrel target with these," he said.
Turkey's state-owned upstream oil and gas company TPAO has signed agreements for offshore hydrocarbon exploration in Libya and Pakistan, and has bought a stake in Iraq's Kirkuk oilfield. Turkey also has an agreement for offshore exploration with Somalia and has been carrying out operations in that region.
Bayraktar said Turkey was also exploring possible electricity trade with Lebanon and that it was interested in hydrocarbon exploration there too.
"Turkey has become a country that can explore for natural gas, oil with its own ships. We have a very strong fleet. This is why we're now going to Lebanon...We are interested in Lebanon's offshore," he said.
He added that some European countries were offering to buy natural gas from Turkey after deciding to halt energy trade with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and said that Turkey could be an alternative route for Europe while becoming an energy centre of its own.
(Reporting by Can Sezer; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Xevi Fontdegloria)