Shell to search for oil, gas in Turkey's southeastNovember 23, 2011 - 15:22 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday, November 23, signed a deal with Turkish state-run petroleum company, TPAO, to search for oil and gas offshore in the Mediterranean and onshore in Turkey's southeast region, AP reports. The deal allows the companies to search for oil and natural gas and to produce and share any discoveries. Offshore search efforts will concentrate off the Mediterranean coast of Antalya. "God willing, we will reach important signs and with these signs ... TPAO, will reach gas and oil discoveries," Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said. Turkey has recently carried out a seismic search for fuel sources in the Mediterranean in response to a Greek Cypriot search, which Turkey opposes on the ground that it undermines the rights of Turkish Cypriots. U.S. firm Noble Energy has said that exploratory drilling off the coast of Cyprus may yield between 3 to 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Turkey and Greece also have long-running disputes over delineating the Mediterranean and Aegean seas for exploration. Yildiz said however, the deal signed Wednesday was "technical work far from any political speculation." "We hope that (the deal) will be beneficial to both our country and to Shell," he said. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. U.S. welcomes efforts to define Armenia-Azerbaijan border The United States welcomes efforts to define the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Vedant Patel. Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. |