Stormy weather: TPAO's plans to strike exploration deals with Chevron and RWE over its sector of the Black Sea have stalled
Chevron Black Sea E&P deal 'on ice'
Turkey has been unable to agree on a deal for exploration work in the Black Sea with US supermajor Chevron, a TPAO executive said, adding that talks with German player RWE had also stalled.
The pair had been in talks with Ankara over exploration in the Turkish sector of the Black Sea, which is believed to hold around 10 billion barrels of oil and 1.5 trillion cubic metres of natural gas.
A Chevron official said the supermajor is still interested in the deal.
"Chevron remains interested in Black Sea exploration and looks forward to further discussions with TPAO," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
However, TPAO eneral manager Mehmet Uysal told Reuters: "There are topics on which we could not agree with Chevron, and Chevron has officially announced it is not interested in petrol exploration in the Black Sea at this time."
He declined to give details of the sticking points which had put a halt to the deal.
Uysal also said talks had stalled with RWE on exploration in the Black Sea.
ExxonMobil and Petrobras are continuing work on exploration in the Black Sea.
TPAO has said if oil is found in the Black Sea by 2010, production will be able to start between 2015 and 2016.