Turkey's state-run oil company has started drilling for oil and gas in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus under an agreement signed last year in September.
The Turkish Petroleum Corporation, or TPAO, began drilling on Thursday at a field in Gazimagusa's Sinirustu village with a ceremony which was participated by Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz as well as Turkish Cypriot President Dervis Eroglu and Prime Minister Irsen Kucuk.
TPAO has said it planned to drill as deep as 3,000 meters at the well which has been named Turkyurdu-1 and the exploration is estimated to continue up to six months.
On September 21, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Dervis Eroglu of TRNC signed in New York an agreement on the delineation of the continental shelf between two countries in the East Mediterranean.
Under the agreement, TPAO will be able to make three dimensional seismic research and drilling in TRNC land and sea more actively.
The agreement follows a Greek Cypriot move to start offshore drilling for natural gas and oil in the southeast of the Eastern Mediterranean island.
On September 22, TRNC Council of Ministers gave exploration license to TPAO, Turkish Petroleum Corp., to explore oil and natural gas around Cyprus island.
TRNC President Eroglu met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on September 24, and proposed to suspend oil and natural gas exploration until a comprehensive solution was found to Cyprus question or if Greek Cypriot administration insisted on oil exploration, then a committee shall be set up by the two sides in the island, and it shall decide how to share the richness that could be found after the explorations. However, Greek Cypriot side did not give a positive response. Thus, TPAO, by Piri Reis vessel, began geophysical research and seismic data collecting studies on behalf of TRNC on September 26.
In 2010, the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel signed an accord demarcating their maritime borders to facilitate a search for mineral deposits in the East Mediterranean.
The Greek Cypriot side had signed a deal with U.S.-based Noble Energy to start drilling in an 324,000-hectare economic zone adjacent to the Israeli waters.
Turkey commits in oil, gas exploration in north Cyprus, says energy minister
Turkish energy minister said his country was committed to continue exploration efforts for oil and gas in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus even if drilling that started Thursday proved disappointing.
"We will explore our own oil and gas. I have to admit that only one in a thousand fresh drilling becomes successful. This particular well can fail us but it is part of a wider exploration effort which provides us also with a detailed underground map of northern Cyprus," Taner Yildiz told a ceremony to mark drilling kick-off at a site in Turkish Cypriot city of Gazimagusa.
Turkey's state-run petroleum corporation TPAO started drilling Thursday at Turkyurdu-1 well which Yildiz said was important not just for finding oil and gas per se but for political and strategic reasons as well.
Yildiz said Turkey carried out exploration at the seas too, adding that work at the Black Sea and the Mediterranean continued with a new exploration project off coast of the country's Iskenderun and Mersin provinces.
TPAO has said it planned to drill as deep as 3,000 meters at Turkyurdu-1 and the exploration is estimated to continue upto six months.
On September 21, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Dervis Eroglu of TRNC signed in New York an agreement on the delineation of the continental shelf between two countries in the East Mediterranean.
Under the agreement, TPAO will be able to make three dimensional seismic research and drilling in TRNC land and sea more actively.
The agreement follows a Greek Cypriot move to start offshore drilling for natural gas and oil in the southeast of the Eastern Mediterranean island.
On September 22, TRNC Council of Ministers gave exploration license to TPAO, Turkish Petroleum Corp., to explore oil and natural gas around Cyprus island.
TRNC President Eroglu met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on September 24, and proposed to suspend oil and natural gas exploration until a comprehensive solution was found to Cyprus question or if Greek Cypriot administration insisted on oil exploration, then a committee shall be set up by the two sides in the island, and it shall decide how to share the richness that could be found after the explorations. However, Greek Cypriot side did not give a positive response. Thus, TPAO, by Piri Reis vessel, began geophysical research and seismic data collecting studies on behalf of TRNC on September 26.
In 2010, the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel signed an accord demarcating their maritime borders to facilitate a search for mineral deposits in the East Mediterranean.
The Greek Cypriot side had signed a deal with U.S.-based Noble Energy to start drilling in an 324,000-hectare economic zone adjacent to the Israeli waters.
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