Türkiye is preparing to begin its first offshore drilling operation in Somalia as its new vessel Çağrı Bey is due to arrive at the Horn of Africa nation on Friday, according to a top official on Saturday.
Speaking during a visit to northern Trabzon province, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar emphasized Ankara's aim of becoming "energy independent," as he addressed key energy-related topics, including domestic exploration and production plans.
According to the written statement from the ministry, he also evaluated the current crisis due to the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, underlining in this regard the importance of the vision of being energy independent.
Stating that currently 20 million barrels of oil per day are not flowing through the Strait of Hormuz and that the world is facing a supply crisis, Bayraktar suggested that this is not a crisis "that can be managed in a single day."
"If you do not have serious preparation, preparations that span decades, and if you have not put forward a vision, you have no chance of managing such a crisis," he said, according to remarks shared by the ministry on Saturday.
"Since 2002, under Justice and Development (AK Party) governments, the goal and vision set by our president has been very clear: what I call our ‘Kızılelma’ is to make Türkiye energy independent," he added.
Moreover, explaining that Türkiye has become a country searching for oil and natural gas in Somalia, Bayraktar said: “Next week, in a few days, I will travel to Somalia. On Friday, our vessel Çağrı Bey will arrive there."
"With the Çağrı Bey ship, we will begin our first offshore drilling operation in Somalia," he furthered.
Türkiye in February sent off its new deep-drilling vessel Çağrı Bey for operation in Somalia, marking what it said was a "historic step" in efforts to boost gas and oil exploration, both at home and abroad.
Prior to that, the research and seismic vessel Oruç Reis was dispatched to Somalia from Istanbul in October 2024, and it completed its mission in the summer of last year.
Türkiye enjoys close relations with Horn of Africa nation with energy being one of the domains of their multifaceted cooperation.
Similarly, pointing out that domestic natural gas production in the Black Sea would double this year, the minister said they "are working in the Black Sea for new discoveries."
"We have now started a new drilling operation, and we will begin another one in April. With these new drills, we aim to increase both our oil and natural gas production through new discoveries," he added.
At the same time, Bayraktar suggested that energy subsidies will continue as he drew attention to soaring oil and natural gas prices globally.
"We are continuing these subsidies within our means so that our citizens are affected as little as possible, and we will continue to do so going forward," he noted.
He also shared that "Türkiye currently uses the cheapest electricity in Europe for households."
Also evaluating the so-called sliding-scale system that curbs fuel hikes, Bayraktar said that nearly TL 13.50 ($0.30) per liter in taxes was removed to prevent fuel price increases from being passed on to citizens.
"The recent developments alone have cost our treasury around TL 600 billion. Despite this, our president has made it clear that we will use all available means to prevent our citizens from being adversely affected by these price increases and to support them. We are continuing our work in this framework and will carry on doing so," he said.
