Petroleum Affairs In Turkey

Located at the crossroads of Europe, Russia, the Caspian Region and the Middle East, Turkey is an energy corridor linking the supplier countries to principal consumer markets and thus stands as a key player in ensuring energy security through diversification of resources and routes.

Pursuant to Turkish law, both exploration and exploitation of petroleum (i.e. upstream activities) are governed by (i) the Petroleum Law No. 6326 of 1954 (Petrol Kanunu) (the Law), which opened the Turkish petroleum market to domestic and foreign oil companies, and (ii) the Petroleum Regulation (Petrol Tuzugu).

Scope and Purpose of the Law

The purpose of the Law is to ensure expedient, continuous and effective exploration, development and appraisal of the petroleum resources of Turkey in accordance with the principle of national interest (milli menfaatler). According to such principle, TPAO (Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi), the national petroleum company of Turkey,