Azerbaijan, Baku, June 21 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
Turkey has spent $2.5 billion on oil and gas search operations in the Black Sea, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz was quoted today by Zaman newspaper as saying.
"Turkey intends to continue oil and gas exploration in the Black Sea, as it is sure that the Turkish and Ukrainian parts of the sea are rich in hydrocarbon reserves," Yildiz said.
The minister said the demand for energy resources has been increased two-fold for the past 10 years forcing the country to seek new sources and routes of supply.
Earlier, the Turkish Petroleum Corporation TPAO signed an agreement on oil exploration in the Black Sea with Shell in February this year.
The companies will initially conduct drilling operations at one of the wells after which the total number may be increased seven-fold.
Turkey is actively searching for oil deposits to reduce dependence on oil product supplies from abroad. Earlier, high quality oil reserves were discovered in January this year on the Magrip field in the Kurtalan area of the Turkish province of Siirt.