KUWAIT – Turkey will begin drilling for oil or gas off occupied northern Cyprus towards the end of March, having carried out seismic studies, the head of state energy company TPAO said on Monday.
Any gas discovery in this area could raise the stakes in the negotiations over reunification of the island, and possibly increase tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.
Cyprus started exploring for gas south of the island in September 2011, angering Turkey, which sees itself as the protector of the illegal Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north.
In reaction, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot administration signed a pact paving the way for exploration, and dispatched its only seismic research vessel, owned by TPAO, to those waters under naval escort to search for potential reserves.
“We’re starting drilling in northern Cyprus in the coming days… We have started shipping our equipment there,” TPAO chief executive Mehmet Uysal told Reuters on Monday, adding that drilling would start before the end of March.
“If there is a need to drill in areas where the licences clash then we would take all measures,” he said, without elaborating on what that meant.
Despite warnings from Ankara to the Greek Cypriot government not to let Texas-based Noble Energy drill an offshore block, Noble’s drill went ahead and struck gas on the first attempt, potentially making the island self sufficient in the key power generation fuel and offering an export option.
Although it has limited fuel resources of its own, Turkey is surrounded by some of the biggest gas reserves in the world and is positioning itself as a key transit hub for Russian and central Asian gas supplies to Europe.
“We’re hoping this will be a peace project because Turkey is the main outlet for this gas,” Uysal said.
“All these companies drilling will have to send the gas to Europe and Turkey is the main route.”
(Reuters)