We Will Bring Syria Together With Energy

Bayraktar answered questions on many topics, from energy support to new discoveries.

Türkiye is in a stream for Syria's energy

Bayraktar stated that about 60 percent of Syria is in the dark and that Türkiye has taken action to bring electricity back to Syria. Stating that a delegation from Türkiye will go to Syria in a short time and detect the deficiencies on the spot, Minister Bayraktar said, "According to the developments, I can join this delegation on this visit. We must bring electricity to the places in Syria where there is no electricity very quickly. We will do this here first with imports. With medium-term plans, we are planning to increase the electricity installed capacity and the production capacity there. We have a strong private sector. We will work together in the construction of Syria's energy infrastructure in this long period with their dynamism, and the experience and presence of our state institutions," he said.

Electricity to Lebanon via Syria

Minister Bayraktar stated that they are already supplying electricity to the north of Syria and said, "We currently have energy activities in all regions within the scope of Afrin, Operation Peace Spring and Olive Branch, starting with fuel oil, LPG, that is, cylinder gas to the north, especially starting from Idlib. We have been giving electricity with a capacity of about 210 megawatts for a long time. We provide electricity to those regions, three transmission points and four distribution points. We are currently working on increasing their capacity," he said. Bayraktar also stated that Türkiye can also deliver electricity to Lebanon via Syria.

Special Study for Syrian Oil

Stating that they are working on the use of Syria's oil and natural gas resources in the reconstruction of Syria, the Minister of Energy said, "We aim to develop these projects. Because Syria, especially in the early 2000s, there were daily oil productions that reached 600 thousand barrels. Of course, these figures have now decreased to 30 thousand barrels. This may be due to the inefficient operation of some of the fields, and some of them may be caused by the destruction of war. But in this sense, we are acting with a vision to bring this potential of Syria to the Syrian economy and to use the resources obtained from there for the development, construction and development of Syria." he said. Bayraktar stated that Syrian oil can also be opened to the world and refineries in Türkiye via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline.

431 Billion TL Support to Consumers

Reminding that the support will continue on the basis of consumption, Minister Bayraktar said, "We aim to move consumers whose annual consumption exceeds 5 thousand kilowatt hours to a cost-based model. The situation of each province is different in natural gas. We plan to give a consumption figure that is above the average consumption by grading, not on a full cost basis, but at a higher price. Grading in electricity existed in the past. Now 417 kilowatt hours and those with more consumption are in a different category. The new regulation will affect 3 percent of the total subscribers. This 3 percent of the bills in February may feel this. But nothing has changed for the remaining 97 percent. The state covers 60 percent of the low-level electricity we all use in our homes, that is, up to 240 kilowatt hours. Now the group, which consumes 417 kilowatt-hours and more, will be subject to a cost-based tariff," he said. Minister Bayraktar, who announced that they provided direct support to the citizens in 2024 with 175 billion in electricity and 256 billion in natural gas, said that the support will continue in 2025.

Energy Prices Will Not Change in January

Emphasizing that our natural gas tanks are over 90 percent full, Minister Bayraktar said, "So I hope we do not foresee any problems in winter. Iran retains its usual unknown. Currently, we can only get half of the contract. Half of the delivery in the contract is coming, but despite this, we do not see a risk for this winter in both our LNG infrastructure and our warehouses. We are not thinking of a price change in energy in January," he said.

New Exploration Wells Will Be Dug In The Black Sea

Explaining that the production capacity in the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea as of today has reached 7 million cubic meters and will exceed 9 million cubic meters in the first quarter of 2025, Minister Bayraktar said, "Currently, production meets the natural gas needs of approximately 2.9 million households. There are 4 ships in the Black Sea. The floating production platform has also arrived. Currently, preparations continue in Çanakkale. The platform will move to Filyos in May 2025 and has a job for a year. We are building a factory on it. With that ship, daily production will increase to 9.5-10 million cubic meters, with a total of 20 million cubic meters. On the one hand, we are drilling new wells. More than 40 new wells will be dug in the process until 2028. We also have an intensive study on new drilling for discovery purposes. We have a determination in the location where it is always said that there is oil, especially in Rize Çayeli. We want to drill it," he said. Bayraktar stated that cooperation offers have come from different countries in naval operations in the Black Sea and Somalia and they are ready for this.

Cooperation with the USA

Explaining that the infrastructure works related to the natural gas center continue, Minister Bayraktar said, "We are moving EPİAŞ, that is, our energy exchange, to the Istanbul Financial Center in April and May. We want to open the carbon market there. Our work on the infrastructure of our Istanbul Gashub project continues. We strive to increase our storage capacity. We are considering additional FSRU. In this sense, there may be a serious cooperation opportunity with the new Trump administration, especially in the field of natural gas. In the first period of our President, a trade volume of 100 billion dollars was set with Trump. It is not very realistic for me to go 100 billion dollars without energy and mining." said.

Nuclear Decision Year

Reminding that the first unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant will be commissioned in 2025, the Minister of Energy said, "When Akkuyu started to produce electricity from the first reactor, Türkiye will meet approximately 2.5 percent of its needs with 1200 megawatts. When 4 reactors are activated, 10 percent of Türkiye’s needs will be met from nuclear. We will not be able to import 7-7.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. That's $3 billion. On the other hand, Türkiye needs two more large conventional nuclear power plants in Sinop and Thrace. At that point, 2025 will be an important decision year for us. Because we will now decide which country, with which technology, with which model we will walk in 2025." He used his expressions.

3 New Gold Fields in Niger

Speaking about Türkiye's gold exploration activities in Niger, Minister Bayraktar said, "We had three gold fields. We signed three new field agreements in the Agadez region, we received additional fields in Niger. In the field we started in 2020, we aim to realize production in 2025 and produce the first gold in the field we started in 2020," he said.