Lined up: TPAO and Shell make Iraq deal
TPAO closes in on Shell Iraq pact
Turkey has reached the final stage of talks with Shell to bid together in a partnership in oil exploration tenders in Iraq, the head of Turkey's state-owned oil company , TPAO, said today.
TPAO had previously told Reuters it was interested in opportunities in Iraq's oil sector, and that it was added in April to the list of companies that pre-qualified to bid in the exploration tenders.
"A small number of consortia can be created for this ... We are about to end the letter of intent stage with Shell,” TPAO boss Mehmet Uysal said in an interview to Reuters.
“We want to end work on this soon."
Iraq has 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the third largest in the world, but the government believes the country's actual oil reserves may be three times as high.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said in June Baghdad hoped to let foreign companies bid on many non-producing oil fields and potential oil deposits from next year.
Iraq, whose primary source of revenue comes from oil, needs huge amounts of investment to boost oil output and rebuild the country after years of sanctions and war.
Uysal also said that TPAO was in talks with German RWE, Chevron and Exxon Mobil on exploration possibilities in the Black Sea and that some important progress had been made.
"We think (the Black Sea) has some good potential for Turkey's future,” he said.
“Chevron gave us an offer for an exploration partnership, but we found it insufficient.
“They took the offer back and are currently preparing a new offer."
If oil is found in the Black Sea in 2010, production could begin between 2015 and 2016.