The discovery was made during the exploration of the Şehit Aybüke Yalçın-1 well, and it is estimated to contain 1 billion barrels of oil in place (OIP).

The Şehit Aybüke Yalçın-1 exploration well was drilled 20km northwest of Cizre and 7km northeast of Şehit Esma Çevik field, which now produces approximately 10,000 bbls/day and has become the highest producing onshore field of TPAO in a very short period of time. Şehit Aybüke Yalçın-1 was drilled to a total depth of 2771 meters and encountered more than 162 meters of light oil-bearing reservoir (41° API) in Cretaceous Carbonates.

The new discovery has an estimated OIP of 1 billion bbls, and it represents the largest onshore oil discovery in Turkey with further prospects to be explored in the frontier Cudi-Gabar area. This exploration success is expected to give a major boost to Şırnak’s economic growth in the coming decades and help achieve Turkey's objective of energy independence.

Melih Han Bilgin, TPAO’s Chairman and CEO, said: "This is the largest onshore discovery in Turkey and gives TPAO a chance to build a new regional office in Şırnak. Developing Şehit Aybüke Yalçın and Şehit Esma Çevik with further discoveries will not only channel capital to stimulate the economy in Şırnak but also allow TPAO to build a state-of-the-art oil refinery to unlock the potential in the region, including the fields in neighboring countries.

TPAO will drill back-to-back appraisal wells and conduct well tests to construct the full-field development plan until the end of 2023. Test production from Şehit Aybüke Yalçın has already started as of the end of April 2023, and the production target is set to 100,000 bbls/day, boosting oil production in Turkey by more than twofold.

Additional exploration wells are to be spudded in the Cudi-Gabar area in H2-2023. A FEED agreement has already been signed for the pipeline." (ILKHA)