Thursday, November 24, 2011

Energy giant Shell signs Turkish oil and gas deal


Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell signed a deal Wednesday with the Turkish state-run petroleum company, TPAO, to explore oil and gas.

The deal will allow the two companies to search for oil and natural gas offshore in the Mediterranean as well as onshore in Turkey's southeast region, the paper said on its website.

Turkey has long-running disputes with Greek Cyprus over delineating the Mediterranean and Aegean seas for the exploration of oil and gas resources.

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said last Wednesday in Ankara that the deal, if sealed with Shell, would pave the way for the exploration of oil and natural gas on the Turkish lands and seas. 

 “TPAO [Turkish Petroleum Corporation] and Shell will undersign a joint operation agreement on Nov. 23 that covers exploration in the maritime areas of [the southern province of] Antalya,” Minister Taner Yıldız told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.

“This will be an important opening in the Mediterranean. We are moving our strategic weight from the BlackSea to the Mediterranean Sea,” Yıldız said during a phone interview.