Turkish Petroleum to acquire 15 pct stake in BP’s Kirkuk unit

ANKARA

Türkiye’s state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has agreed to acquire a 15 percent stake in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited, joining BP and ConocoPhillips in the redevelopment of several major oil and gas fields in northern Iraq.

The agreement was signed in Ankara on July 28 by TPAO General Manager Cem Erdem and BP executive Andrew McAuslan in the presence of Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Following completion of the transaction, BP will retain a 43 percent stake in the Kirkuk company, while ConocoPhillips will hold 42 percent and TPAO 15 percent.

The development contract covers the Baba and Avanah domes of the Kirkuk field and the nearby Bai Hassan, Jambur and Khabbaz fields. Its initial phase covers more than 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with further exploration potential, according to BP.

The deal builds on a strategic cooperation memorandum signed by TPAO and BP in February.

Bayraktar said the acquisition was one of the most important steps toward TPAO’s goal of raising its combined oil and gas production to the equivalent of 1 million barrels a day.

“This is a project we have been working on for a long time,” he said.

“With this agreement, Türkiye has become a partner with BP in the Kirkuk fields.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the deal following talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Ankara, calling it a “historic step” in bilateral energy cooperation.

Erdoğan also said the Türkiye-Iraq Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement expired on July 27 and that the two countries aimed to conclude a broader energy cooperation accord as soon as possible.

Bayraktar later met the Iraqi oil and electricity ministers to discuss fuller use of existing energy infrastructure and projects involving oil, natural gas and electricity transmission.