Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said today that Turkey has reached agreement with Dutch oil giant Shell, for the exploration in Gulf of Antalya.
Turkey also plans to announce a tender for hydrocarbon exploration in Gulf of Mersin and Iskenderun, and many major oil companies such as Statoil, Petrobras, Chevron, and Exxon are believed to be interested.
It is understood that Petrobras is especially interested in the Gulf of Mersin exploration due to its alleged similarities with Petrobras’ Tupi oil field, offshore Brazil, which is regarded as Western Hemisphere’s largest oil discovery in the last 30 years.
As fo the Iskenderun bay, the minister said that first drilling operations were expected to begin in 2013.
[mappress] Offshore Energy Today Staff , November 22, 2011