Turkey wants to search for gas in the Bulgarian part of the Black Sea

Turkey is negotiating the possibility of exploring for oil and gas in Bulgaria, announced the country’s Minister of Energy Alparslan Bayraktar.

State-owned Turkiye Petrolleri AO (TPAO) will “probably” sign an agreement with an unspecified foreign partner next month to search for blue fuel deposits within the Bulgarian part of the Black Sea, Bayraktar told reporters in the Turkish province of Giresun. 

For Bulgaria, this will be yet another deal in this sector, after the country selected a unit of Shell Plc to explore for oil and gas in the Black Sea at the end of last year. The contract with Shell Exploration & Production for exploration in Block 1-26 Khan Tervel near Burgas was signed two weeks ago. 

The topic was likely part of the discussions during the visit of Bulgarian Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov, who was in Turkey for a meeting with his counterpart earlier this month.

TPAO is also interested in Libya, which launched its first exploration tender in over 17 years in March, in addition to work in fields in Iraq, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

Turkey, which is almost entirely dependent on oil and gas imports, has been seeking to increase production both at home and abroad in recent years. The country wants to use its geographical location to become a gas hub to meet demand in the European Union and the Middle East.

TPAO began producing gas from a deposit in the Turkish part of the Black Sea in 2023 and is currently conducting exploration off the coast of Somalia. Exploration deals are not guaranteed to lead to commercial oil or gas discoveries, but Turkey has continued its expansion plans with agreements.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov