Turkey has refused to issue a license for the SOCAR Petrol Arama ve Uretim Ltd., a subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company, for exploration of oil deposits in Turkey’s Tekirdag region, said the message posted on the website of the Turkish Resmi Gazete (official newspaper) Jan. 11.
Reportedly, the company appealed to Turkey for the license back in June of 2015.
“Based on a number of articles of Turkish Petroleum Law, it was decided to refuse issuing a license for the SOCAR Petrol Arama ve Uretim Ltd. for oil exploration in an area of 14.537 hectares in the Tekirdag region,” said the message.
It was reported earlier that oil and gas exploration in Tekirdag region (in South-west of Turkey) will be carried out by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO).
Works on oil and gas exploration in these regions will last for the next three years.
Turkey actively carries out search for oil fields to reduce dependence on oil and gas supply from abroad. Oil reserves were discovered in Magrip field in the Kurtalan district of Turkish Siirt province in January 2013.
In addition, Turkey is currently engaged in the oil and gas exploration in 13 provinces in the north of Iraq. Turkish Energy Company carries out this work in seven provinces of Iraq, while in six provinces jointly with Exxon Mobil.