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Turkey to Seek Oil in Iran

Iran Materials 15 August 2006 17:14 (UTC +04:00)

(Zaman) - With recent energy issues on Turkeys agenda, a new link is being forged in the Turkish-Iranian chain of energy cooperation.

In a bid from Iran to bypass Russia and access the European natural gas market via Turkey, Iran appears ready to allow Turkey to search for oil in the country in return, reports Trend.

Turkey is also operating oil fields in brother countries Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

TPAO (Turkey's state-owned petroleum company) has the authorization to search for oil in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

The issue will be addressed with Irans Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh, who will arrive in Turkey today to meet with Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler.

During todays talks, TPAO, which specializes in international oil exploration, will ask permission from Iran to rent potential oil fields and conduct feasibility studies.

Authorities from TPAO communicated their intention to the Iranian delegation in Turkey.

Iranian authorities will reportedly focus on strengthening their border compressor stations as well as the transfer of natural gas to Europe via Turkey.

As tension between Russia and Ukraine continues, the Turkish Ministry of Energy intensified its contacts with alternative oil-supplier Iran to prevent future shortages.

These issues will be discussed again in the Ankara meeting between the two energy ministers, who previously resorted to arbitration because of prices and supply cuts.

In addition to the new agreements, Turkey wants to renew current mutual agreements in order to allow Iran to open to Europe via Turkey.

Another important issue on Ankaras agenda is the Tehran administration committing to a price discount and guarantee of supply.

Iranian natural gas supplied to Turkey fell by nearly one third in winter 2005.

Issues that eventually resulted in arbitration were initially handled in the technical delegation talks.

Both parties are working to reach a consensus on the issue and optimistically plan to announce the results at the conclusion of todays meeting.

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