Report: ExxonMobil in Talks for Turkish Shale

ExxonMobil is in talks with Turkish state-run petroleum company TPAO to search for shale gas in Turkey, the Hurriyet newspaper has reported.

Citing unnamed government sources, the Turkish newspaper reports that ExxonMobil is close to sealing a deal with TPAO to explore for the resource closeby to where Dutch major Shell is already exploring.

Earlier this week, Turkish Minister for Energy, Taner Yildiz announced that Shell had begun exploration work at the Turkish region of Diyarbaki, at the Saribugday-1 field, with TPAO.  No further details were given on the operations.

This is not the first time that ExxonMobil has been reported to be interested in Turkish shale. In March this year, TPAO said that it had met with ExxonMobil to discuss the possibility of exploring for shale gas in the west of Turkey.

 "We have big shale gas potential ... This attracts a lot of foreign firms, Exxon Mobil in particular," CEO of TPAO, Mehmet Uysal told Reuters news agency. "They are currently considering the potential in Trakya (western Turkey) and they're going to make up their mind whether or not to become partners with us."

The most recent talks refer to shale gas opportunities in the southeast of Turkey, Hurriyet reported.