Azerbaijan, Baku, April 29 / Trend A.Tagiyeva /
Previously suspended oil wells that have been re-opened in Turkey cover 10 per cent of the domestic oil demand of the country, Governor of the Batman province of Turkey Yilmaz Arslan said on Monday, Hürriyet newspaper reported on Monday.
According to Arslan, 72 per cent of oil in Turkey is produced in Batman province. This year it is planned to re-open 12 oil wells previously suspended due to economic inexpediency.
"In Turkey the opening of each well costs about one million liras. However, given the growing oil price and processes taking place in the world, we can say with certainty that the opening of the wells today is economically efficient," Arslan said.
The governor also said there are plans to conduct exploration and development of new oil fields in Batman province with the participation of domestic and foreign investors.
According to an earlier report of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) opened 11 oil and six natural gas wells during 2012 within the scope of work on the discovery of new oil and gas fields in the country.
In total, 56 wells were drilled during the reporting period including 54 onshore and two offshore fields. Eight new oil fields were found in the south-east of Turkey 2012.
Turkey is actively searching for oil deposits in order to reduce dependence on oil from abroad.