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Turkish Petroleum will reduce听drilling activities if听low听oil prices continue, the head of Turkish Petroleum, Besim Sisman said on Wednesday.
State-owned Turkish Petroleum is an exception among companies in that it听is negatively affected by听low oil prices as Turkey is a net oil importer. However, the country expects the current budget deficit to fall听by nearly 50 percent due to low oil prices which is good news for the majority of companies benefiting from low oil prices.
鈥淥il companies usually reduce worker numbers or cancel projects,鈥� said Sisman, but added 鈥淲e will halt some activities while managing this process as we are reluctant to听remove nearly 4,600 of our personnel.鈥�
Sisman said this reduction in drilling听is a temporary situation听and听even if the oil price is at $40 a barrel,听the company will not face financial听problems. He added that the听target is to overcome the setback without loans.
Turkish Petroleum will invest 1.4 billion Turkish liras听in domestic projects and 2.3 billion lira in foreign investments听in 2015, said Sisman, adding that they plan to drill 128 wells in total.
Turkish Petroleum has produced 12.3 million barrels of crude oil domestically in 2013 and the company's main strategy in the mid to long term is to听increase production through new investments.
鈥淲e will carry on our work in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and听onshore, but we must not听forget to turn our direction听abroad. We must make investments outside of Turkey,鈥� Sisman said.
Sisman, upon being听questioned on the research activities in Southeastern Mediterranean, commented that they found the region tempting after the discovery of natural gas resources in听Israel, and听added听that the dispute over the territories are politically motivated.
The Turkish seismic vessel, Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha is searching for oil offshore southern Cyprus. Turkish authorities say听that both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots have rights to听the offshore gas reserves around听the island, while听the Greek Cypriots have declared rights to what they call an "exclusive economic zone" in the waters off the south coast.听
Sisman also said there is a future for Turkish Petroleum in both southern and northern Iraq, and the recent relaxation of political tension looks promising.听
Reporting by Goksel Yildirim, writing by Nihan Cabbaroglu
Anadolu Agency
nihan.cabbaroglu@aa.com.tr
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