Turkey’s TPAO and BP to explore projects in Iraq and Asia

Turkish national energy company TPAO has signed a preliminary agreement with British oil major BP to investigate potential projects in the oil and gas sector in Iraq and Central Asia, Turkey’s energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

The agreement sets the framework for international and regional cooperation to develop oil and natural gas fields, assess exploration potential, expand oil export capacity and build natural gas transportation infrastructure, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported, quoting Bayraktar.

The deal follows previous agreements with US energy companies Chevron and ExxonMobil, covering new exploration areas in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

TPAO is looking at cooperation in Iraq, primarily in the Kirkuk fields, as well as different projects in Libya, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, Bayraktar said.

Bayraktar said the company expects to produce about 500,000 barrels of oil and natural gas per day by 2028, adding that the agreement is part of broader efforts to raise output to 1 million barrels per day.

This week, the consortium between TPAO and Spain’s Repsol secured two blocks, one onshore and one offshore, in Libya’s first oil and gas licensing round in 17 years.

The Turkish energy company was reportedly planning to raise $4 billion through a sukuk before the end of 2025 to expand its production capacity.  

In March, Turkish Petroleum Corporation and US energy companies Continental Resources and TransAtlantic Petroleum agreed to jointly develop unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the Diyarbakir Basin in eastern Turkey.