Twenty-five years ago, I drove through south-eastern Turkey. The town of Kahta was enjoying an oil boom, modest by the scale of the Gulf, but with basic hotels crowded with roughnecks, and nodding donkey pumps in the valleys. Now, a more sizeable oil and gas rush is making a real difference to energy-hungry Turkey’s situation.
On the periphery of the Middle East, this big country has not been blessed with hydrocarbons in the same way as its neighbours Iran and Iraq, or even Syria. With the largest population in Europe, if it’s counted in that continent, and cold winters in its mountainous terrain, it is also the fourth biggest gas consumer and sixth largest user of oil.
Its own resources have historically been minor: a dribble of oil from the Kurdish-dominated south-east, around Diyarbakır and the Kahta field I saw, a little gas from Thrace and the Black Sea near Istanbul. That was both an economic and strategic weakness.
The cut-off of the pipeline from Iraq over political disputes has deprived it of a steady source of oil from Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Two-thirds of its oil now comes from Russia, handy as Turkey is not bound by the sanctions that keep EU members off Russian oil.
Turkey has domestic soft coal, which is carbon-intensive. It has been expanding renewable capacity, while Russia’s Rosatom is constructing a nuclear power station on the southern coast. This is now at least four years overdue because of financing and equipment problems.
Otherwise, it has to rely on Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan for gas. This exposes it to sanctions complications, and the increasing unreliability of Iranian supply as its neighbour struggles with meeting its own demand.
But things are changing: not in a way that will upset international energy markets, but enough to be very handy for Ankara.
In 2021, state-owned Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) finally succeeded in making a sizeable oil find. The discovery in the Gabar mountains, in the south-eastern Şırnak area, was reported to have 150 million barrels of reserves, a minnow for the Gulf, but a whale for Turkey. It continues the geological trend running from Iran through northern Iraq.
Several other fields have now been found in the same area. And, unlike Turkey’s historical fields which have heavy oil, here is higher-quality light crude. It could become Europe’s highest-producing onshore oil province. Turkish oil output has jumped from about 60,000 barrels a day before the find, a sliver of its 1.1 million barrels a day consumption, to more than 130,000 bpd.
Promising further oil, last month leading US producer Continental Resources signed a deal to co-operate with TPAO on evaluating shale in the Diyarbakır Basin. Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, whose brother, Selcuk Bayraktar, is married to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s daughter Sumeyye, said the area could hold 6.1 billion barrels of resources. The decision of the Kurdish PKK group, considered terrorists by Ankara, to disband should ease operations in this region.
But it is gas that makes the biggest difference to both Turkey’s and the international situation. It discovered a large gasfield, Sakarya, in the deep waters of the western Black Sea, in August 2020. Then energy minister Fatih Dönmez was optimistic in 2023 that hydrocarbons could also be found in the eastern Black Sea.
Sakarya, located close to Istanbul, was followed by further finds, the area now reported to hold up to 25 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves. Last month, Mr Erdogan announced another discovery by the Goktepe-3 well, with 2.6 trillion cubic feet. The water is deep, at 2,200 metres, cold, and lacking oxygen, and the reservoirs are geologically tricky.
Nevertheless, production is rising and is expected to reach 14 billion cubic metres annually by 2028. By 2030, the fields here could cover nearly 30 per cent of Turkish consumption, which stood at 45 billion cubic metres last year.
These developments are important for several reasons. In the crisis year of 2022, Turkey’s energy import bill of $97 billion was twice its current account deficit of $48.8 billion. Without oil and gas imports, Turkey would generally have a positive trade balance. That would ease the pressure on its chronically high inflation and devaluing lira. Mr Erdogan is keenly aware of the importance of keeping down inflation and home energy bills for his political popularity.
Additional domestic gas would reduce the risks of dependence on Russia and Iran, and put Ankara in a stronger position for negotiating new contracts. Turkey has long aimed to become a gas hub, profiting by buying and selling gas, instead of simply transiting a large portion on to Europe. It could do this by mixing Russian purchases with its own production to sell to Europe, evading the EU’s upcoming ban on gas imports from Russia.
Along with the booming renewables sector and the new nuclear reactors, higher gas production and lower prices would aid Turkey in getting off coal. The country targets peak emissions only by 2038, with a net-zero goal of 2053, but it needs a much more robust plan to get there.
TPAO is also active internationally, partly as an extension of Turkish foreign policy. It has drilled several wells (apparently unsuccessfully) in waters it claims around the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, and the Turkish navy has blocked some other drilling there. It is interested in Libya, site of another contested maritime border claim. In March, it agreed with the federal government of Somalia to look for oil there.
And Turkish companies are involved in the Qatari-led consortium which has signed a $7 billion deal to provide the new Syrian government – heavily backed by Ankara – with electricity. Turkey has agreed to send two billion cubic metres of gas per year as a first step. The ability to supply Syria’s energy needs could be key in economic reconstruction and future political influence.
The humble wells around Kahta were a foretaste of a new policy and economic tool. Domestic oil and gas are just one facet of a complex local and international energy strategy. It will not ever be Saudi Arabia or Iran, but Turkey’s complex bridge between two continents and two seas has just gained another pillar.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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ASHES SCHEDULE
First Test
November 23-27 (The Gabba, Brisbane)
Second Test
December 2-6 (Adelaide Oval, Adelaide)
Third Test
December 14-18 (Waca Ground, Perth)
Fourth Test
December 26-30 (Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne)
Fifth Test
January 4-8, 2018 (Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney)
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
