Turkey ties up with US to develop its shale fields

Alparslan Bayraktar/X

State-backed Turkish Petroleum Corporation and US energy companies Continental Resources and TransAtlantic Petroleum will jointly develop unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the Diyarbakir Basin in the east of Turkey, according to a statement.

“This cooperation will greatly contribute to our goal of bringing Turkey’s oil and gas resources to our economy,” energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in a post on social media platform X.

Turkey, a member of the OECD, the rich countries’ club, is however relatively hydrocarbon poor and has to rely on imports of gas from Russia to fund its sizeable domestic industries.

The agreement however opens a “new era in exploration”, the minister said. Diyarbakir is a major city in Turkey’s restive east where the government has been fighting a Kurdish insurgency. However earlier this month, Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the PKK, the main Kurdish militant group, declared a ceasefire after decades of conflict.

Continental Resources said it sees “immense potential” in Turkey’s untapped resources, Reuters reported quoting CEO Doug Lawler. The details of the exploration plan were not disclosed.

TransAtlantic Petroleum has been operating in Turkey for 17 years, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

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This month Bayraktar told Anadolu Agency that 153 oil exploration wells are due to be drilled in 2025, mainly in the country’s Gabar region in the southeast, Diyarbakır and near the Turkey-Syria border.

Ankara’s daily oil production has reached 132,000 barrels as of March 2025, the minister said. Turkey has also been exploring for hydrocarbons offshore Somalia and is negotiating to explore prospects off Libya, according to Bayraktar.