TPAO

Türkiye is set to initiate three additional drilling operations aimed at bolstering the nation's energy self-sufficiency following significant oil discovery in the southeast region, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has unveiled.

Türkiye will conduct oil exploration activities in the eastern Black Sea, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez has said, adding that finding oil in this area is likely.

Turkey's state-owned energy company TPAO has applied for a license to explore for crude oil in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Energy Ministry said in a statement in the country's Official Gazette on July 9.

Turkey has reportedly acquired a third drillship which is bigger than the Fatih and the Yavuz, both currently prospecting for hydrocarbons in Cyprus' exclusive economic zone.

Turkey, or rather the breakaway "Turkish Republic of North Cyprus" (TRNC) recognized only by Turkey, has informed the United Nations it will begin drilling for oil and natural gas within Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

In 2012 Turkey formally laid claim to the northern section of the Eastern Mediterranean. It was the year that several maps depicting sea areas west of Cyprus and south of the eastern Aegean islands of Rhodes and Kastellorizo were published in the Turkish government gazette.

Turkey's Foreign ministry claims that research for oil and gas off the shores of Cyprus "does not contribute to stability in the area" and may potentially change a certain "delicate balance" concerning the division of the island.

Turkey has transferred stakes worth billions of dollars in Ziraat Bank, the Borsa Istanbul stock exchange, Turkish Airlines and state-owned pipeline operator BOTAŞ, among others, to a new sovereign wealth fund, in a bid to help finance giant infrastructure projects. 

A Turkish research vessel will continue searching for oil and gas off Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot authorities have said, extending a simmering standoff over offshore gas reserves between rival sides on the ethnically-split island.

Shell and Turkish Petroleum have begun drilling activities in the Black Sea this month, one year earlier than originally planned, representatives from the companies said Jan. 6 at a press conference to launch the activities.

Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z said he was optimistic for the drilling, as the site is very close to where Romania has made new discoveries.