Shell Starts Exploring for Shale Gas in Turkey

Royal Dutch Shell has started shale gas exploration in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yıldız said.

Speaking during his meeting with Shell's CEO Peter Voser, Yıldız said the company's exploration at Sarıbuğday-1 field began last week, Today’s Zaman reported. Turkey signed a deal last year with Shell, allowing the firm to search for oil and gas off Turkey's southern coast in the Mediterranean Sea, and that deal also included shale gas exploration.

 “We are now in the process of carrying out seismic surveys in the Mediterranean Sea and hope to get a successful result at the end of it. We are also discussing what else we can add to our portfolio in Turkey together with our partner the Turkish Petroleum Corporation [TPAO],” said Voser, the newspaper reported.