Skip to main content

International Oil Companies Gamble on Turkey’s Shale Gas

While information on Turkey's hydrocarbon reserves remains elusive, some shale investors are willing to take the risk.
Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz addresses the audience during a ceremony in Famagusta April 26, 2012. Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu and Yildiz attended the ceremony marking the start of joint gas and oil exploration works in northern Cyprus between Turkey's state-owned energy company TPAO and the Turkish-Cypriot administration. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (CYPRUS - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY BUSINESS) - RTR318P5
Read in 

Shell has begun exploring shale gas in Turkey. Despite the scale of this new undertaking, the only sources of information about Turkey's reserves are media speculation and a 2013 report by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA). While this has not stopped investment, it does underscore the a risk the companies investing in Turkish shale are taking.

Royal Dutch Shell's Turkey branch and the Turkish Petroleum Corp. (TPAO) are drilling Turkey's first shale gas-exploration wells in Diyarbakir province's Sanbugday 1 natural-gas field. According to its agreement with the TPAO, Shell is expected to drill five wells into the Dadas shale formation. While this investment has drawn attention and interest into Turkey’s shale gas reserves, Shell's spokesmen made no public assessments prior to completing the first well, underscoring the obscure environment and the dearth of public information.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.