Page 4 - AfrOil Week 22a 2020

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil
Libya and Turkey signed a maritime pact in November in a bid to divide up part of the Mediterranean Sea (Image: AnadoluPetroleum)
Under pact with Libya, Turkey
prepares to seek oil in East Med
TPAO hopes to begin exploration work once it has secured an exploration permit from Tripoli
WHAT:
TPAO is waiting for a green light from Tripoli to begin exploration work.
WHY:
The company’s plans are part of a broader efforts to assert Ankara’s interests in the region.
WHAT NEXT:
Deliveries of Russian warplanes are not
likely to tip the balance between warring factions in Libya.
TURKEY may begin oil exploration in Eastern Mediterranean within three to four months as part of an agreement with the Libyan govern- ment, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said on May 29.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the deploy- ment of Turkey’s first oil-and-gas drillship Fatih to the Black Sea, Dönmez said Turkish Petro- leum (TPAO) had asked Libya for an explo- ration permit in the Eastern Mediterranean and would begin operations in areas under its licence after the application process was com- pleted. “Within the framework of the agreement we reached with Libya we will be able to start our oil exploration operations there within three to four months,” he said.
On November 27, Ankara and Libya’s UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) signed two separate pacts, one that encompasses military co-operation and the other fixing the maritime boundaries of the two
countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, includ- ing the sea floor as well as the waters. The border referenced in that agreement, which took effect on December 8, carves out a slanting sea corri- dor of boundaries at the closest points between Libya and Turkey
The deal sparked no small amount of contro- versy, as it attempted to establish boundary lines that ran the shortest distance possible between the two countries, rather than following median lines that take into account the continental shelves of nearby countries – namely, Cyprus and Greece. As such, it came under condemna- tion from the Greek government, which said it failed to take the island of Crete into account.
The maritime pact also asserted Turkey’s rights in the Eastern Mediterranean in the face of unilateral drilling by the Greek Cypriot administration. It declared that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) also had rights to the resources in the area.
P4
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 22 03•June•2020