Turkish companies have reached an agreement to conduct oil and natural gas exploration activities off the coast of Pakistan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on Wednesday.
In early April, state-run Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) signed a deal to participate in an offshore oil and gas bidding round jointly with Pakistani national energy companies Mari Energies, OGDCL and PPL.
The agreement marks a first and “represents a highly significant step,” Fidan told a joint press conference with Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar in Islamabad.
“This is one of the outcomes of the more institutionalized approach we are working to establish,” he added. Fidan did not provide further details about the exploration plans.
The minister noted that both countries are evaluating cooperation mechanisms in sectors such as mining, natural gas, oil and rare earth elements.
In recent years, Türkiye has ramped up offshore and onshore exploration efforts as part of its resource exploration strategy launched in 2016.
It has conducted exploration off Somalia as part of an agreement it signed with its East African ally in March last year. That was followed by a deal on joint onshore hydrocarbon exploration in late October.
The announcement on the joint hydrocarbon exploration follows President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Islamabad in February, during which the two countries signed multiple energy cooperation agreements.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited Türkiye in late May for talks with Erdoğan and officials expressed a strong will to further advance cooperation in multiple areas, including defense and energy.
Fidan on Wednesday underlined the ongoing efforts to boost the bilateral trade volume between the two countries to $5 billion.
He also said Türkiye and Pakistan have made significant initiatives in the field of the defense industry.
“In the upcoming period, we want to strengthen our cooperation in the defense industry. This will also be an extremely strategic step in terms of the security of our countries. We have ongoing projects in many areas regarding this,” he noted.
Fidan also stressed that the two countries have demonstrated strong determination in the fight against terrorism for many years and said they would continue to stand by each other in this regard.
Ishaq Dar said Islamabad and Ankara agreed to further bolster cooperation in a string of areas, including economy, defense industry, energy and infrastructure.
Lauding the Turkish defense industry, Dar said that Islamabad wishes to further strengthen its ongoing strategic and defense industries cooperation and promotion of peace and stability in the region.
The two sides are “actively” engaged in different activities, including capacity building in counterterrorism, said Dar.
Turkish companies will also be participating in the privatization of distribution companies in the power sector, he added.
The two sides, Dar said, are pursuing the establishment of a special economic zone dedicated to Turkish entrepreneurs in Karachi and Istanbul.
“We are actively following up on benefiting from Turkish experience and expertise in ship breaking and storage and efficient use of agricultural water,” Dar said.
He said Islamabad and Ankara have agreed to revive the long-dormant joint ministerial commission after a hiatus of 11 years, which will be co-chaired by Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal and Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler.
“All this work will lay a solid foundation for the eighth high-level Strategic Cooperation Council,” which will be held next year in Türkiye, he added.
Reference Link:- https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/turkish-companies-to-launch-joint-search-for-oil-gas-off-pakistan