The quantity of recoverable oil from the Çukurova field in the southern Adana province is expected to reach up to 8 million barrels, Turkey’s Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez said on Thursday.

Dönmez’s remarks came during a visit to the field where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Turkey had discovered $1 billion worth of oil reserves on June 28.

As the Çukurova-1 and Çukurova-2 wells are the shallowest in the country, at a depth of 430 meters (1411 feet) and 358 meters, respectively, both investment and production costs will be very low, Dönmez explained.

The daily average output from these wells at the early stage of development is 100-120 barrels, but the minister said the forecast when developed is for around 7.5 million-8 million barrels of oil from this field, the value of which is approximately $1 billion.

On the success of this economic oil find, Dönmez said more drilling is planned in eight wells to bring the total number to 10 by the end of the year.

The drilling efforts are part of the government’s plan to reduce dependency on costly energy imports.

Dönmez recalled that just four or five years ago, daily oil production by the state company for drilling and exploration, Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) was 37,000 barrels but it now exceeds 60,000 barrels.

“Over the same period, we have added another 70 million barrels to our total reserves with additional discoveries,” he said.

These additions have helped alleviate oil and gas imports, which are very high at 92% for oil and 99% for natural gas, Daily Sabah reports.