Turkey on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with British energy giant BP to further oil and gas exploration in the region, notably in Iraq, the energy minister said. "Our priority is cooperation in Iraq... especially in the Kirkuk fields. Libya is another subject of shared interest," Alparslan Bayraktar said at a signing ceremony in Istanbul.
He said BP and TPAO, Turkey's national energy firm, would also "evaluate areas of collaboration... in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan".
Ankara, which is looking to reduce its energy imports, also signed similar agreements with two US oil giants earlier this year, with ExxonMobil on January 8 and Chevron on February 5.
According to Bayraktar, TPAO -- which is hoping to produce 500,000 barrel of oil and gas per day by 2028 -- wants to use these agreements to raise its daily output to one million barrels per day.
Bayraktar also said Turkey would sign another agreement next week that "would formalise a partnership" with an unnamed country, without giving further details.
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