Turkey ’s dependence on imported oil is hampering its growth, and is likely to continue doing so as the country’s prosperity increases, regional analysts and energy experts say.
Although Turkey produces some oiland holds 270 million barrels of reserves, mostly located in the Hakkari Basin in the south east, the country's fast-paced economic expansion and growing population means demand far exceeds domestic supply.
"Ninety percent of what Turkey uses has to be imported — both oil and gas. It is a growing economy that needs a lot of energy ," Frost & Sullivan Energy Analyst Enguerran Ripert said.
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He estimates Turkey consumes around 670,000 barrels of oil per day, of which 580-590,000 barrels are imported, primarily from Russia but also from Iraq and Azerbaijan. Prior to the latest set of international sanctions, Iran also supplied oil to Turkey.
One consequence for Turkey is an energy bill, which is not only sizeable, but highly sensitive to increases in international oil prices.
“Our assumptions of tight supply due to booming demand in emerging markets is clearly a risk for the country,” U.K. research firm Business Monitor International (BMI) said in its energy report for the third quarter of 2012.
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