TPAO has acquired a 15% stake, alongside bp and ConocoPhillips, in the consortium established to develop oil fields in Iraq’s Kirkuk region. The strategic move will enable Türkiye to play an active role not only in oil transportation but also in production.
The impact of Gabar on domestic production
Rapidly rising domestic oil production in recent years has become one of the most important pillars of Türkiye’s strategy to become an energy hub. While crude oil production is concentrated mainly in the Southeastern Anatolia region, increased output from the Gabar Field in Şırnak has significantly changed the country’s oil production map.
With Gabar, described as the largest onshore oil discovery in the history of the Republic, brought into production, Şırnak became the province with the highest oil output. According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Gabar produces approximately 81,000 barrels per day, while a total of 35,085 barrels of crude oil are produced in four provinces within the area overseen by the Batman Regional Directorate.
Diversified supplies and pipelines
Alongside rising domestic production, Türkiye continues to support its oil supply security through diversified imports. According to May data from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, Türkiye imported approximately 2,665,665 tonnes of crude oil. Kazakhstan ranked first among crude oil suppliers, followed by Russia, the United States, Iraq and Guyana as major suppliers.
While a significant portion of this oil reaches Türkiye by sea, the Ceyhan Terminal remains one of the key centres of regional oil trade. In addition to Azerbaijani oil, Kazakh and Turkmen oil is transported through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline, depending on production levels. According to BOTAŞ data, approximately 96.9 million barrels of oil were transported through the pipeline in the first half of the year, which has an annual transport capacity of 50 million tonnes. The pipeline remains one of the strategic energy corridors carrying Caspian resources to global markets through a route outside Russia and Iran.
The Kirkuk partnership and cooperation with Iraq
The Türkiye-Iraq Crude Oil Pipeline, which carries Iraqi oil to global markets through Ceyhan, also plays an important role in regional oil flows. The pipeline from Kirkuk to Ceyhan, which was reactivated in March this year, has a daily transport capacity of approximately 1.5 million barrels. Shipments began at around 170,000 barrels per day and have reached between 180,000 and 200,000 barrels, while Iraq aims to increase the volume transported in the coming period.
Ankara and Baghdad continue talks on a more comprehensive energy cooperation model for the Türkiye-Iraq Crude Oil Pipeline. The discussions envisage Türkiye allocating sufficient capacity for Iraq to resume oil exports of approximately 750,000 barrels per day. The new framework is expected to deepen energy cooperation between the two countries over the long term through higher shipment volumes.
TPAO’s partnership with bp and ConocoPhillips in developing the Kirkuk fields stands out as a strategic move that will enable Türkiye to participate directly not only in oil transportation but also in production. The partnership is expected to expand Ankara’s room for manoeuvre in energy diplomacy.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi had said Iraq could provide Türkiye with up to 1 million barrels of oil per day, underscoring the political will to expand energy trade between the two countries. Transporting larger volumes of Iraqi oil through Ceyhan is expected to strengthen the terminal’s strategic role in regional oil trade and contribute to Türkiye’s goal of becoming a global energy hub.
