During the 2010s, demand for oil considerably increased, mainly due to increased use of
diesel,[10] and is forecast to slowly increase until 2040.[11] Over half of Turkey's imported oil and oil products are used for
road transport,[5] and Turkey is the world's largest user of
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for road transport.[6] It is hoped the
locally manufactured electric cars and other road vehicles from the country's
automotive industry will eventually reduce the import bill.[12] In 2021, Turkey's consumption of diesel—both domestic and export—was over six times that of petrol.[13]: 19
Fossil-fuelled road-vehicle exhaust emissions pollute large cities with
nitrogen dioxide and other gasses.[14] Air pollution from diesel is worse than that from petrol.[15]
Turkey's estimated
reserves of oil is about 600 million barrels[a],[13]: 19 and about 3 million tons are produced each year, about seven percent of Turkey's annual consumption.[20][21] The country imports around 25 to 30 million tons a year,[13]: 20 mostly from Russia and Iraq.[22][23]
TPAO, the state-owned exploration and production company, drills between 100 and 200 exploratory wells each year.[13]: 19 Most
proven oil reserves and production are in
Batman and
Adıyaman Provinces in the southeast, and there is a little in
Thrace.[24]: 3 Batı Raman has
extra heavy crude oil; other fields produce much-lighter domestic crude, whose
API gravity averages 28, and this medium-weight oil is suitable for the Turkish market.[25] In 2023, reserves of about one billion barrels with API gravity of 41 were discovered near Mt Gabar in
Şirnak.[26]Shale oil may be extractable from
Dadaş but well-waste fluids would need to be properly handled to minimize the
environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing.[27]
Oil exploration licenses in Turkey are granted by the
General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs[20] but the process of granting them takes a long time and requires political influence.[28] The Petroleum Market Law provides incentives for investors to explore and produce.[29] Some
enhanced oil recovery is carried out at Batı Raman.[30] As well as crude oil, the country imports oil products, diesel, LPG and
petcoke—which is used to make cement—and as of 2020[update], the country's energy import bill closely tracks the price of crude oil.[31] TPAO, which does most of the oil and gas exploration,[32] increased offshore exploration in 2020.[33]
Diesel fuel imported from Russia is shipped to Turkey from the Black Sea ports of
Novorossiisk,
Tuapse and
Taman.[34] Only China and India buy more Russian oil than Turkey.[35]
The
Kirkuk–Ceyhan oil pipeline has a capacity of 1.6 million barrels a day (mbd). Russian and
Caspian oil is transported by ship through the
Bosporus.[36] In 2005, an oil-spill response law was passed in Turkey,[37] and in 2022, oil-tanker insurance was made compulsory.[38] As well as
drillships, there are two seismic ships.[39]
Turkey's oil imports from Russia increased after the 2022
Russian invasion of Ukraine.[40] The
European Union (EU) has banned direct imports of oil products from Russia since 2023.[41][42] As of 2023[update], Turkey consumes large quantities of cheap Russian diesel, which may be freeing up diesel from Turkish refineries to be exported to the EU.[43]Oil tankers from
Novorossiysk deliver to
Korfez and
Aliağa, near Turkey's third-biggest city
İzmir.[44] In October 2022, almost half of Russia's Black Sea crude was sent to Turkey[45] but it was unclear whether the
EU oil price cap would affect Turkey.[46] Some Russian oil goes through
Dörtyol terminal in
Hatay.[47] Most Russian diesel exports go to Turkey[48] because the EU has sanctioned such imports.[49]
There is a port at Aliağa called
Nemrut Bay.[50] The
Kirkuk–Ceyhan oil pipeline has a capacity of 1.6 mbd and the
Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline 1 mbd. Most exports from the
petroleum industry in Azerbaijan transit Turkey[51] because their light oil fetches a premium price on the world market.[52] A small amount is shipped to the BTC pipeline from Kazakhstan.[53] In 2024 protesters against the war in Gaza called for transit of crude and refined products to Israel to be stopped.[54]
Processing and storage
Turkey's largest oil refiner is
Tüpraş[3] with four refineries. The newest refinery is
Star Aegean, which is also in Aliağa and has over half the market for petroleum products.[57][3] Turkish oil's
sulfur content is generally high so refineries are being upgraded to meet
Mediterranean shipping sulfur limits,[58][59] which may be cut from 0.5% to 0.1%, possibly in 2025.[60] Together, the five refineries have a capacity of over 400 million tons a year (815,000 mbd) as of 2022.[61] Although refineries prefer to produce diesel rather than
jet fuel, half of the country's diesel has to be imported.[61]
Retail and consumption
There is a biennial trade fair in Istanbul.[62] In 2022, 28 billion litres of diesel and 4 billion litres of petrol were sold in Turkey.[63] Seventy percent of cars registered in 2022 were petrol, 18% diesel and 9% hybrid; and of cars on the road that year, 37% were diesel, 35% LPG and 27% petrol.[64] In mid 2023 the
retail price of a litre of petrol was 24 lira (a tad under 1 USD at that time so slightly less than the USA price[65]) and diesel cost slightly less.[66] The government says that it varies the
special consumption tax to try and smooth out retail price variations due to oil price and exchange rate fluctuations.[67]
Jet fuel cost the equivalent of 55 US cents a litre at that time.[68] Over one hundred thousand barrels of jet fuel are sold in a typical year.[69] Less
bunker fuel was sold in 2022, because of the decline in shipping due the war in Ukraine.[70]
Economics
According to some analysts, the cost of imported oil and gas is a key weakness in the
economy of Turkey.[71][72] Turkey buys
Urals crude from Russia because it is cheaper than oil from other countries.[73][74] Russian oil is refined and the refined products are sold abroad.[75]
Subsidies and taxes
In Turkey, tax levied on diesel is lower than that on petrol, and it has been suggested by the
Istanbul International Centre for Energy and Climate at
Sabancı University that taxes on diesel and petrol should be more-closely aligned with each other to minimise imports, because Turkey has enough petrol-refining capacity.[77]
In 2022 the Turkish Energy Minister said Turkey and
Algeria would create a joint oil-and-gas-exploration company.[78]
Geopolitics
In 2019, the
European Council objected to the Turkish drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean.[79]
Unlike several European countries, which
stopped buying oil and gas from Russia or were cut off after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,
relations with Russia are such Turkey continues to buy both commodities from Russia.[8][9] Turkey can consume discounted Russian diesel, and also buys discounted Russian crude, which it refines and sells legally as of 2022[update][b] as Turkish at the global price.[80] For example,
Shell and
Vitol are claimed to have done this with SOCAR and Tüpraş, although there is no proof the purchased products were refined from Russian crude.[81] Crude from different countries is often blended at refineries so as of 2023, it is not possible to tell where a barrel of diesel originated from; NGO
Global Witness said the EU should ban products from refineries that refine Russian crude.[82]
In 2023, the
International Court of Arbitration ruled Turkey could not import from Iraqi Kurdistan without the consent of the Iraqi central government.[89] Sales from Iraq have been affected by discounted Russian crude.[90]
Reducing fossil fuel share of energy
Turkey intends to increase the share of
renewables and
nuclear power in the national energy mix.[91] According to a May 2022 report from
think tankEmber,
wind power and
solar power saved Turkey seven billion dollars on gas imports in the preceding 12 months.[92] It is hoped further
electrification, of sectors such as road transport[93] will reduce Turkey's dependency on imported oil.
In late Ottoman times, permission to explore for oil in the
İskenderun area was granted to the
Grand Vizier Kamil Pasha and later to Ahmet Necati Bey.[21] With the fall of the Ottoman Empire, oil and gas fields in
Mosul vilayet—of which
Kirkuk was a part—were lost and since then, Turkey has had to rely on imports.[97] In 1926, the Turkish government took over oil exploration rights.[21] In 2001 natural gas was legally separated from oil.[21] The
General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration was formed.[21] The first oil imports from Russia arrived in 1986 and from Azerbaijan in 2007.[98]
Between 2000 and 2020, Turkey's share of imported energy increased from just over 50% to 70%.[99] In 2022, Turkey's oil consumption decreased due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and resulting travel restrictions.[13]: 19 Also in 2022, Middle Eastern crude imports were displaced by imports of discounted Russian crude, which tripled in the period from before the
Ukraine invasion to 1 January 2023.[90]
^In February 2023, however, an EU ban on direct importation of products refined from Russian crude started; products of Russian crude refined in other countries are legal
^"How do countries measure greenhouse gas emissions?". UNEP. 13 September 2022.
Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023. Countries report their emissions through what is known as a 'bottom up' approach, where national emissions are estimated by combining data on types of activity with the emissions typically produced by those activities.
^Consultancy, Pi Legal (28 February 2023).
"Oil Market Activities in Turkey". Pi Legal Consultancy.
Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
Difiglio, Prof. Carmine; Güray, Bora Şekip; Merdan, Ersin (November 2020).
Turkey Energy Outlook. iicec.sabanciuniv.edu (Report). Sabanci University Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC).
ISBN978-605-70031-9-5.