Around 7 million acres will be explored in the Turkish coast of the Black Sea. The Turkish company Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi (TPAO) will hold 50 percent share in the new Black Sea project. ExxonMobil will use its experience of the deep works.
Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that the Turkish government has approved an agreement between its subsidiary company ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Turkey BV and Turkey's state-owned Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi (TPAO) regarding the two deepwater exploration blocks in the Black Sea.
In November 2008, ExxonMobil and TPAO signed an agreement on joint exploration of promising deep-lying areas on the block Samsun (Samsun Block) which covers 2 million acres (8,500 sq km) and 5 million acres (21,000 sq. km. km.) in the east. Depth is about 6,500 feet (2,000 meters). ExxonMobil will become the operator of the project and receive a 50 percent stake in the two offshore blocks. TPAO and ExxonMobil will undertake to work together and use the experience and operational capabilities of both companies at all stages of evaluation and potential development of the blocks.
"We would like to thank the Turkish Government for approval and will be happy in partnership with TPAO to explore the hydrocarbon potential of these deep-water blocks in the Black Sea," said Russ Bellis, director for exploration at ExxonMobil International Limited. "We will use this perspective undiscovered area of its global experience in deepwater operations."
President and Chief Executive Officer of TPAO Mehmet Uysal said: "TPAO and ExxonMobil will cooperate closely in order to assess the potential of these blocks. I believe that we will discover commercial quantities of oil and gas."
In December 2008, ExxonMobil announced a further expansion of its presence in the Black Sea, signed an agreement with Petrom on the exploration of deep-water block Neptun (Neptun Block) on the Romanian shelf.
Affiliates of ExxonMobil are currently engaged in exploration for hydrocarbons in the deep waters of Angola, Brazil, Canada, Greenland, Indonesia, Ireland, Libya, Nigeria, the Philippines, the United States and other countries.