U.S. oil producer Continental Resources estimates a shale oil reserve of 6.1 billion barrels in Türkiye's southeastern Diyarbakır basin, according to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.
Continental Resources and the Turkish national oil company, Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), signed a joint venture agreement in March to develop shale fields in the basin.
"Türkiye's current annual (crude) oil imports amount to 365 million barrels. So a 6.1 billion barrel reserve is a great figure," Bayraktar told reporters during a visit to southeast Türkiye this week.
Bayraktar was in Şırnak, along with other officials, where he earlier this week attended the ceremony held at the Şehit Esma Çevik-1 Well in Gabar to mark the May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day.
The minister previously heralded the March agreement as "a new era in local crude oil exploration," with Türkiye viewing shale oil and gas discoveries as a key development. Bayraktar also said the country aims to produce shale gas from the northwestern Thrace region.
"Shale oil and gas could be a game changer," he said.
Continental Resources did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Türkiye is not a major oil and gas producer and it still covers most of its energy needs through imports.
The government aims to cut its import bill and boost supply security by developing domestic resources and expanding international partnerships in oil and gas exploration.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last week announced that Türkiye had discovered a new reserve of 75 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas during drilling works in the Black Sea.
Bayrtaktar, meanwhile, also noted that the oil production in Gabar reached 81,000 barrels, which he said meets approximately 8% of the country’s daily oil demand.
Moreover, regarding plans to build the country's second and third nuclear power plants, the minister told reporters Ankara was in talks with Canada's Candu Energy and other companies.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Bayraktar said Türkiye wants to "put a name" to the projects for its additional planned plants this year.
"Russia, South Korea and China are interested in the second and third power plants. But in addition to these, there are also other countries and companies we are negotiating with," he said.
"One of them is Canada, for example. The Candu company," he added.
Candu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear energy company, is building Türkiye first nuclear power station at Akkuyu in the Mediterranean province of Mersin under a $20 billion accord from 2010.
Türkiye plans to build a second nuclear plant in the Black Sea region of Sinop and a third nuclear plant in the northwestern region of Thrace.
