Turkish energy minister: we are turning import resources into domestic resources

ANKARA (A.A) - November 23, 2011 - Turkish Energy & Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz has said that TPAO-Shell cooperation was one of the efforts to turn import resources into domestic resources. Turkey's state-run petroleum company TPAO and Dutch-British company Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday signed a deal for exploration and joint production of oil and natural gas off coast of Turkey's Mediterranean shores as well as in Turkey's southeastern region.  Yildiz said that oil and natural gas would continue to be two important energy resources in the world for the next decades, adding that Turkey would continue to develop renewable energy resources as well as to turn import resources into domestic ones. As Turkey is mainly foreign-dependent in oil and natural gas, efforts to explore oil and natural gas are important, he noted. Shell will undertake the transfer of the drilling rig and financing of the production from possible findings in the zone's 2,500-meter deep seabed. Exploratory drilling in deep waters cost around USD 300 million.