Energy Minister says Turkey will protect its rights in the eastern Mediterranean
Energy Minister says Turkey will protect its rights in the eastern Mediterranean – FATIH DONMEZ, Energy and Natural Resources Minister of Turkey stated that Turkey had strengthened its presence in the eastern Mediterranean thanks to its Barbaros and Oruç Reis seismic and Fatih drilling vessels.
The minister said Turkey would protect its rights originating from international law to the very end and added “as Turkey is not a rich country in terms of oil and natural gas resources, we cannot act according to cyclical developments in this sector which is directly affected by geopolitical tensions and economic fluctuations. Our whole effort is to increase local production to pull down current account deficit as much as possible”.
He went on to say “We will not allow a fait accompli situation with any projects without Turkey’s consent or it will not approve of, in the eastern Mediterranean. We will not agree to a unilateral system ignoring the rights of Turkey and Northern Cyprus and not ensuring that parties on the island get equal, fair shares. Turkey’s attitude and stance on this issue is clear. We are determined to protect our rights and interests stemming from international law to the end”.
Providing information on oil exploration and production activities in recent years, the minister went on to say: “For a sound economy and independent policies, we have to increase domestic production in energy and come to a controllable level regarding issues which we are dependent on foreign sources.
In this context, our FATIH vessel will go on its first drilling mission in the Mediterranean in the next few months. We have spent US$ 10 billion for oil exploration and production activities in the last 16 years, 50 percent of which was funded by Turkiye Petrolleri (a state company) and the other 50 percent by local and foreign investors. Exploration and production sector has created a value of US $ 5 billion with side industries it supports with a potential much more than this. We have prevented imports worth US$ 20 billion, thanks to these investments, but we are not at the point we would like to be.
Independence on energy is the key to the foundation for a strong economy. “National Energy and Mineral Policy”, which is the future vision of energy, was born with this understanding. We always say, if there is oil we will find it. We will do more exploration and drilling. From this point of view, we have taken important steps recently in order to increase the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. We will continue without slowing down, to change the fate of this game”.
