Erdogan hails Turkey oil find before COP31 speech

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected in Antalya for the COP31 climate talks on Tuesday after celebrating the discovery of two oil fields in Turkey's Gabar mountain region.

Erdogan described the discovery as “good news” on Monday. He said on X that the fields could contain 135 million barrels of crude and that production in the southeastern region would exceed 100,000 barrels per day by the second half of 2027.

The future of oil, gas and coal is a central dispute at UN climate negotiations. COP31 host Turkey and Australia, which is leading negotiations at this year's talks, are promoting a voluntary pledge to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from about 20 percent now to 35 percent by 2035. The initiative does not mention fossil fuels.

COP31 started on Monday and is due to run until November 20.