"23 thousand barrels of crude oil are produced daily in the Gabar region"

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar attended the 2024 budget negotiations for his Ministry and affiliated institutions at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Planning and Budget Committee and gave a presentation to the deputies. Starting his speech by referring to the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, Minister Bayraktar stated, "In the new period, of course, healing the wounds of the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes, which were the disaster of the century, and reviving social, economic, and commercial life in these cities will continue to be our most important priority. While rebuilding our cities, we are also completely renewing the energy infrastructure, especially electricity and natural gas. We will continue to work with all our might for the rapid construction and revival of the cities damaged by the earthquake."

Touching upon Israel's attacks on Gaza, Minister Bayraktar said, "I condemn the inhumane attacks carried out by Israel on Gaza, and I wish God's mercy upon my thousands of innocent civilian Gazan brothers and sisters who were martyred, and a speedy recovery to the wounded. I would like to state once again that we stand by Palestine in this just cause."

Bayraktar continued his words as follows:

"We increased our mining exports, which were 680 million dollars in 2002, tenfold in 2022, reaching 6.5 billion dollars, and broke a record in the history of the Republic. In addition, we increased the share of mining in the Gross Domestic Product, which was 0.8 percent in 2002, to 1.4 percent in 2022. Behind these successes lies significant planning, hard work, and sweat. In order to reveal our country's underground resource potential, MTA has carried out 3.7 million meters of drilling from its establishment in 1935 until 2002, and 8.6 million meters in the last 21 years. Furthermore, within the scope of the coal exploration work initiated in 2005, our lignite reserve, which was 8.3 billion tons, has reached the level of 20.4 billion tons today, and our total coal reserve, including hard coal, is 21.9 billion tons. In 2022, our domestic coal production was 105 million tons, and our imports were 39 million tons, equivalent to 9 billion dollars. Strict inspection rules are applied in mining at every stage from exploration activities to production, and we aim to make the mining sector more reliable and sustainable with the inspections we conduct. In this context, the number of fields inspected was 8 thousand 207 in 2022, and 8 thousand 049 as of November 14 in 2023. We plan to finish the year with 8 thousand 500 inspections."

"WE BROKE A HISTORICAL RECORD IN BORON PRODUCT SALES WITH A TURNOVER OF 1 BILLION 320 MILLION DOLLARS"

Providing information about boron ore, Bayraktar said, "We maintain our leadership in the sector with an international market share of 63 percent in 2022 in boron ore, of which we own 73 percent of the global reserves. Our goal here is to reach a market share equal to our world boron reserve ratio. In this framework, we broke a historical record in 2022 with a turnover of 1 billion 320 million dollars in the sale of 2 million 672 thousand tons of boron products, 97 percent of which were exports."

"WE HAVE BROUGHT NATURAL GAS, WHICH WAS USED IN ONLY 5 OF OUR CITIES IN 2002, TO 81 PROVINCES AND 793 SETTLEMENTS TODAY, OFFERING NATURAL GAS USAGE OPPORTUNITIES TO 83 PERCENT OF OUR POPULATION"

Pointing out that oil imports have increased, Minister Bayraktar said, "Our crude oil and petroleum product imports, which were 31.7 million tons in 2002, were 47.4 million tons in 2022, equivalent to 37.7 billion dollars. Our oil and petroleum product exports were 3 million tons in 2002, and 12.7 million tons in 2022. While we had no LPG imports in 2002, 3.2 million tons of LPG were imported last year, equivalent to 2.3 billion dollars. Our natural gas consumption, which was 17 billion cubic meters in 2002, was 54 billion cubic meters in 2022. In meeting the increasing natural gas demand, our 19 thousand kilometers of transmission and 192 thousand kilometers of distribution natural gas pipelines, our 5 LNG facilities, and our 2 underground natural gas storage facilities, which currently have a storage capacity of 5.8 billion cubic meters, provide a great advantage."

Noting that they have increased natural gas entry capacities, Bayraktar stated the following:

"In the last 21 years, we have increased our daily natural gas entry capacity by approximately 5 times, reaching 447 million cubic meters. In this way, we have gained the flexibility to supply natural gas from different sources at the time and in the amount we want. On the other hand, in line with our goal that there will be no settlement left without natural gas, we have brought natural gas, which was used in only 5 of our cities in 2002, to 81 provinces and 793 settlements today, offering natural gas usage opportunities to 83 percent of our population. In addition, while there was natural gas in only 7 of our Organized Industrial Zones (OSB) in 2002, today we provide natural gas supply to 212 of our OSBs."

"WE ARE PRODUCING 23 THOUSAND BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL DAILY IN THE GABAR REGION"

Pointing out that the Gabar, Kato, and Bestler-Dereler regions are now starting to be mentioned with oil, production, development, and peace, Bayraktar provided the following information:

"As is known, we made oil discoveries in the Gabar region in the Martyr Esma Çevik field in May 2021, and in the Martyr Aybüke Yalçın field in April 2023. The Martyr Aybüke Yalçın discovery is not only the largest discovery made in land areas in Turkey to date, but it is also the largest land discovery made globally in 2023. Today, we are producing 23 thousand barrels of crude oil daily in the Gabar region. We are also continuing drilling operations to increase production in the region. We do not limit the work we carry out in the field of hydrocarbons only to the country. With the active energy diplomacy we conduct, we will take part in oil and natural gas projects in Africa, the Caucasus, and other geographies, especially in Iraq and Libya. Our national companies such as Turkish Petroleum and BOTAŞ will play important roles there."

"OUR INSTALLED ELECTRICITY CAPACITY, WHICH WAS 31,846 MW IN 2002, HAS REACHED 106 THOUSAND MW TODAY, INCREASING 3.3 TIMES"

Pointing out that electricity demand has increased by an average of 4.7 percent annually over the last 20 years, Minister Bayraktar said, "While our electricity consumption was at the level of 133 TWh in 2002, it increased two and a half times in 2022 to 331 TWh. In line with the pioneering policies we have put forward to meet such high demand growth, our installed electricity capacity, which was 31,846 MW in 2002, has reached 106 thousand MW today, increasing 3.3 times. The domestic resource ratio of our installed capacity is at the level of 66 percent, with 55 percent being renewable energy. In addition, we have increased the share of renewable-sourced electricity production, including hydroelectricity, in the basket, which was at the level of 26 percent in 2002, to 42 percent."

"AKKUYU NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WILL MEET APPROXIMATELY 10 PERCENT OF OUR COUNTRY'S ANNUAL ELECTRICITY NEED"

Stating that they have made significant progress in the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project, Bayraktar said, "Currently, we are continuing the construction of 4 reactors simultaneously in accordance with all international safety standards. On April 27, 2023, we brought the first fuel rods to the site and granted our Akkuyu project nuclear facility status. On the other hand, nearly 30 thousand jobs are currently being provided at the Akkuyu site, and when it is fully commissioned, it will provide permanent employment for 4 thousand people. Furthermore, with all units becoming operational, the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will meet approximately 10 percent of our country's annual electricity need and will prevent 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas imports and 35 million tons of carbon emissions annually."

"IN 2022, 270 BILLION TL OF OUR CITIZENS' ELECTRICITY AND NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION WAS COVERED BY OUR STATE"

Providing information about the support given to citizens, Bayraktar noted the following:

"In 2022, we provided 1.7 million tons of coal support to 1.9 million families. We continue to provide coal support for heating purposes in 2023 as well. Within the scope of the regulation that will allow those who receive coal support to use it as natural gas if they wish, we have provided 634.3 million TL in natural gas consumption support since 2022. Apart from these supports provided by the Ministry of Family and Social Services, 270 billion TL of our citizens' electricity and natural gas consumption in 2022 was covered by our state."

News Source: 12punto