Government working to reduce energy import bill: Minister

The government is working to reduce Türkiye's energy import bill and ease the cost of imported energy on the current account deficit, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

Türkiye spent as much as $96.5 billion on energy imports in 2022, but this amount declined to around $70 billion in 2023, said the minister, noting that the country has sped up its efforts to explore and produce natural gas and oil on its soil.

In July, Türkiye's energy import bill increased by 5.6 percent year-on-year to $5.3 billion, according to the latest foreign trade data.

From January to July, the amount they paid for imported energy, however, declined by 6.9 percent annually to $38 billion.

"We are determined. We will reduce the cost of energy on our country's economy," Bayraktar said in a speech he delivered at the inauguration of a mining plant in the western province of Balıkesir.

He noted that the daily gas production from the Sakarya Field is currently at 6 million cubic meters, meeting the needs of 2.6 million households.

The daily output from this field in the Black Sea is expected to climb to 20 million cubic meters, according to the minister.

Some 5 percent of Türkiye's 1 million barrels of daily oil need is met from the Gabar region, Bayraktar said.

"On the one hand, we continue our exploration activities in Gabar and [the southeastern province of] Hakkari. On the other hand, we continue our production activities and implement our new drilling plan in the Black Sea," he added.