Gasification Capacity Will Increase To 200 Million Cubic Meters

Minister Bayraktar attended the 15th Türkiye Energy Summit and made evaluations on many topics, from Türkiye's oil and natural gas activities to renewable energy, from nuclear power plants to energy support.

6 Exploration Drilling

Stating that Türkiye had 96 and a half billion dollars of energy imports in 2022, 40 billion dollars of which was oil and 38 billion dollars of natural gas, Bayraktar said that they have changed their strategy in oil and natural gas exploration since 2016 to reduce this imports. As a result of this transformation, Bayraktar stated that Türkiye has the 4th largest fleet in the world with 6 deep sea drilling vessels today and announced that they will perform a total of 6 exploration drillings in the west, middle and east of the Black Sea in 2026.

Oil, Not Terror

Noting that a outlook revolution occurred in public companies, especially Turkish Petroleum, with the drilling and exploration activities and the resulting discoveries, Bayraktar stated that with this transformation, they enabled many Turkish young people abroad to return to their countries and reverse local migration. Bayraktar explained that they organize events in production areas for young people to witness these activities and emphasized that when young people are asked about "Gabar", oil comes to mind, not terror.

It Will Go To 7 Facilities

Bayraktar, who defines natural gas as a very critical fuel, explained that since 2016, they have taken steps to diversify natural gas in terms of both route and form. Bayraktar reminded that Türkiye has a total underground storage capacity of 6.3 billion cubic meters in Silivri and Salt Lake, and stated that they increased the gasification capacity from 32 million cubic meters to 161 million cubic meters per day. Pointing out that there are currently a total of 5 gasification facilities in 5 points of Türkiye, 3 of which are FSRU and 2 of which are LNG terminals, Bayraktar said, "We want to increase the gasification capacity of 161 million cubic meters to 200 million cubic meters. Two more new FSRUs can enter our system," he said.

Right Support to the Right Place

Bayraktar said, "We can probably lower the 4 thousand kilowatt-hour limit one step in 2026," Bayraktar said, noting that they are working to increase efficiency in energy support, first and then 5 thousand kilowatt hours per year and then 4 thousand kilowat-hour usage. Stating that they are considering a consumption-based regulation in natural gas in 2026, Bayraktar said, "When we do this, we will give the right support to the right place. Maybe with less budgets, that is, we will do these things with 200 billion liras, not 1 trillion liras," he said.

There May Be Consortia

Expressing that there is an electrification process with artificial intelligence, data centers and electric cars in the world and in Türkiye, and that the electricity demand of heating and cooling systems has increased, Bayraktar evaluated that nuclear energy is needed as a base load. Bayraktar mentioned that Akkuyu NGS is the largest foreign investment of the Republic of Türkiye and that they plan to obtain the first electricity from here in 2026, and said that they can proceed with triple and quadruple consortiums in Sinop and Thrace.

15 percent from nuclear

Setting out the goal of Türkiye to meet 15 percent of its electricity from nuclear in 2050, Bayraktar announced that they attach great importance to localization here, and that they have reached approximately 10.6 billion dollars, that is, 56 percent locality in the construction of Akkuyu as of the end of the second quarter of 2025.

Comprehensive Program

Bayraktar added that after 2026, they will announce a very comprehensive program regarding roof applications, facilities established by industrialists for self-consumption purposes and capacity increase at the 5.1.h application point.