Shell and TPAO to explore oil in Black Sea

The Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) and Royal Dutch Shell have concluded a deal to explore for gas and oil in the western Black Sea. Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz attended the signing ceremony of the joint management agreement on Thursday. The agreement was signed by TPAO Director General Mehmet Uysal and Shell's Executive Vice President of Upstream International Exploration Ceri Powell and Shell's Upstream International Director Andy Brown. TPAO and Shell both hold equal share in the venture. Yildiz said that exploration activities in the Black Sea were very important as part of Turkey's energy policy and the results would become clear at the end of 2013. In order to decrease energy import which is a great concern for current account deficit, Turkey is recently making further cooperation with international firms for gas and oil explorations.