According to initial estimates, the oil potential in the formation is 135 million barrels; production at the new fields began in October, reports the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of Turkey.

The gist in brief

• At the new Gaziler and Çardaklı fields, the potential was estimated at 135 million barrels of oil in the formation; production there has been underway since October.
• There are currently 184 wells operating in Gabar, with daily production reaching 84,000 barrels.
• In the second half of 2027, the authorities plan to reach approximately 230 wells and exceed 100,000 barrels per day.
• According to Erdogan, daily production of 120,000 barrels at current prices would mean about $4.4 billion per year for the economy.

What Erdogan stated

The president announced the discovery on November 9 following a Cabinet meeting.

"According to our initial estimates, these two new fields have a potential of 135 million barrels of oil in the formation," he said.

The fields were named Gaziler and Çardaklı, and production there began in October.

How much oil is being produced in Gabar now

According to Erdogan, daily production at 184 wells has reached 84,000 barrels. Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar clarified in his social media account that this is about 8% of the country's oil consumption, and that since the start of development in Gabar, 75.4 million barrels have been produced. According to the minister's estimate, this has helped reduce the current account deficit by approximately $6 billion, writes Sabah.

What is planned next

Erdogan stated that through the development of the field and the commissioning of new wells, daily production in the region will grow by 30%. In the second half of 2027, with approximately 230 wells, it will, according to him, exceed 100,000 barrels. Bayraktar named surpassing the milestone of 100,000 barrels per day as the goal for 2027.

What formation potential means

The figure of 135 million barrels means the total volume of oil that, according to initial estimates, is located in the formation at the two fields. This is not proven reserves and not the volume that will be recovered: the recoverable portion is usually smaller and depends on technology and development conditions.

What is happening with oil production in Kazakhstan

In 2025, Kazakhstan produced 99.6 million tonnes of oil, according to the Ministry of Energy; about 80% of production goes to export, and 64.8 million tonnes were shipped through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) last year. The country's reserves are estimated at approximately 30 billion barrels, which is second place in the Russia and Central Asia region after Russia itself. New projects are still at an early stage: the Chingiz field in the West Kazakhstan Region is being prepared for trial operation from May 1, 2027 to May 1, 2030, and KazMunayGas is forming a consortium with Shell, Chevron, Sinopec and CNOOC to search for oil in the Caspian region.

Author's conclusion

The new figure is important not as a reserve, but as a bid for further development: 135 million barrels in the formation are initial estimates, and the real contribution of the new fields will become clear only from production there. For now, Gabar provides about 8% of Turkey's oil consumption, and growth to 100,000 barrels per day depends on drilling: the authorities are counting on approximately 230 wells in the second half of 2027. The figure of $4.4 billion per year relates to production of 120,000 barrels, not to the 100,000 milestone that they plan to exceed.