Turkey's Shale Ambitions Intertwine With Regional Interests

Turkish officials told the energy news service Platts on July 9 that ExxonMobil and Turkey's state-run Turkish Petroleum Company have resumed talks over partnering for shale gas and shale oil exploration in Turkey. ExxonMobil and Turkey have been increasing their cooperation in Iraqi Kurdistan, where another Turkish state-owned energy firm has acquired stakes in all six of ExxonMobil's blocks. While those blocks are still in the exploration stage, ExxonMobil and other energy firms are looking to Ankara to guarantee an export route for any future crude produced in the region amid a great deal of political uncertainty between the Kurdistan Regional Government on Turkey's border and the Iraqi central government in Baghdad. 

Turkey's shale gas endeavors are laden with geological, financial and political complications, but the Turkish government is eager to exploit domestic sources of natural gas that could lessen its dependence on imports from Russia and Iran. ExxonMobil, meanwhile, has an interest in leveraging its experience in, and access to, world-class technology to exploit Turkey's potential shale oil and gas resources. However, even if the shale deposits prove fruitful, it will be difficult for any energy firm to balance its own commercial interests against the often competing geopolitical imperatives of Baghdad, Arbil, Ankara and Moscow.