Oil has been discovered in 12 wells in Turkey’s Camurlu and Sinirtepe areas close to the southeastern border with Syria, announced Turkish national petroleum company officials.
“We have obtained between 600-1,000 barrels of oil per day from the find,” said Bayram Kara director of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) Batman region.
Kara added that a seismic search is to be conducted in the areas of Ergani and Diyarbakir in order to discover new oil fields. TPAO’s daily oil production exceeds the average of 60,000 barrels.
Despite sharing oil-reach areas at the borders with Iran and Iraq, Turkey remains dependant on foreign suppliers and imports to meet 90% of its needs, as it has few oil and gas resources.
Kara declared that mine clearing would be a key factor to increase oil production at borders as land-mines hinder the progress of oil explorations. Turkish authorities have planted land-mines along its 600 km-long frontier with Syria to curb border crossings by Kurdish separatists.

(ADN Kronos International)