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Türkiye’s Oruc Reis seismic research vessel is expected to reach Pakistan’s port of Karachi between Nov. 17 and 20, as the two countries prepare to restart offshore oil and natural gas exploration that Islamabad says has been largely dormant for about 20 years.
Pakistan’s Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said he would try to greet the ship in person. He called its arrival “an important moment for Türkiye-Pakistan friendship.” Türkiye’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said separately that the vessel is already under way. “Our Oruc Reis seismic ship is currently on its way to the waters off Pakistan,” he said.
Malik held a meeting with senior Pakistani officials to go over the preparations and operational arrangements needed before the vessel arrives. He described the visit as a turning point in relations between the two countries.
He also said cooperation had entered a new phase after the signing of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement among Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The reports did not give details of that pact.
Malik said Islamabad was ready to provide whatever help was needed to make the offshore work easier and to ensure operations begin without problems. He said he had conveyed Pakistan’s full backing to the Turkish side. The two countries, he said, would work toward an achievement to be remembered for generations.
The announcement comes months after Pakistan Petroleum Limited signed production sharing agreements and exploration licenses for eight offshore blocks awarded in the 2025 Pakistan Offshore Bidding Round. The deals are seen as a significant step toward reviving offshore hydrocarbon exploration in Pakistan for the first time in roughly 20 years. The reports did not say which areas the Oruc Reis would survey.
Bayraktar spoke to international and foreign-language media at the Istanbul Finance Center, where he said Türkiye aims to expand the overseas activities of the state oil company TPAO. He said the company’s growth strategy relies on mergers, acquisitions and partnerships with major oil firms, and noted that TPAO is drilling off Somalia in addition to its work in Pakistan.
Bayraktar said such decisions rest on economic and geological conditions. He said Türkiye is active in places such as the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, Somalia and Pakistan “because we need oil and natural gas.” He added that Türkiye might operate in Syria, Iraq or Lebanese waters in the future.
The Oruc Reis is named after a 16th-century Ottoman naval commander. The ship drew international attention in 2020, when its survey work in the Eastern Mediterranean heightened tensions between Türkiye and Greece over maritime jurisdiction.
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