Unrest in Turkey could upset Kurdish and Israeli plans to develop, and ultimately export, oil and gas respectively. [Quartz] Shareholder activism – rather, activism by select shareholders – is upsetting energy company executives’ plans to hold on to their jobs until they choose to leave. [WSJ] Competition from independent Russian gas producers, such as Novatek,… Keep reading →
Turkey’s state-run oil firm has struck an agreement with U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) to develop joint projects in Kurdish-administered northern Iraq, the country’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday. Mr. Erdogan also said that Turkey can pursue separate arrangements with the Erbil-based Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG. “Countries from various parts… Keep reading →
Now at our World Energy Leaders’ Summit in Istanbul over 100 energy leaders discussing Natural Gas Markets and Geopolitics WECouncil
Canadian nuclear technology firm Candu and Turkish state power generator EUAS have signed an Memorandum of Understanding on building a $20 billion (US) nuclear power plant on the Black Sea. Present at the signing were the Chinese company CNI 23 which is expected to build the plant in partnership with Candu and representatives of Canadian nuclear regulator CCC, a Turkish representative for Candu confirmed for Breaking Energy.
The first step of the process is to conduct a feasibility study, and there is not yet an estimate for the size of the planned facility, the Turkish representative said. Keep reading →
The upcoming World Energy Leadership Summit in Istanbul will be a good forum to “test the waters” on how global markets view competition in the energy sector, according to CME Group Chief Economist Blu Putnam.
Turkey is a good crossroads to discuss the future of cheaper, cleaner and more efficient energy development in the developing world even as growth challenges and policy limit the expansion of energy infrastructure in many developed countries, Putnam said in a recent interview with Breaking Energy. Keep reading →
The St Sophia church in Istanbul, Turkey, now a museum.
In a global economy dealing with moribund growth, particularly in Europe, Turkey’s robust economy and its distinctive efforts to deregulate its energy business while encouraging cutting edge investment have attracted attention from governments and industry around the world. Keep reading →
The Arab Awakening and Iran’s continued pursuit of a nuclear program dominated the conversation in the Middle East in 2011. But a longer view calls for greater attention to a seemingly obscure but potentially pivotal issue: the discovery of large natural gas deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean, known as the Leviathan Basin. Shared economic interests should compel the nations of the Middle East and Europe to set aside their differences and quickly exploit Leviathan. But as tensions among the United States, Israel, and Iran increase and unrest in the region persists, this valuable resource could become a casualty – or even driver – of an international row, scuttling a key opportunity for European and global energy consumers.
When a US energy company discovered new areas of the Leviathan basin between Israel and Cyprus in mid-2011, regional players weighed in decisively. Turkey deployed a naval mission to explore deposits in the waters off Turkish Cyprus. A demonstration of Turkey’s discomfort with a closer relationship between Israel and Cyprus, this alone nearly sparked a conflict between Israel and Turkey. Iran also weighed in, offering to help Lebanon explore its own waters and supporting Lebanon’s claim that parts of the basin lay within its territory. The US quickly sided with Israel and Cyprus, creating the appearance of further Turkish alignment with Iran and a division between two diametrically opposed camps. Keep reading →
Amid a struggling US economy rife with political dissonance, a European sovereign debt crisis and Asian markets often closed to foreigners, a stable country of 70 million in the process of a full-scale deregulation of its energy markets–without restrictions on foreign investors–sounds almost like a fantasy.
But Turkey is that country, sitting at the crossroads between some of the most energy-rich countries in the world and some of the most energy-hungry. As international investor dollars get allocated in the region, uncertainty about the eventual outcome of the Arab spring has left Turkey as a standout target for foreign money. Keep reading →
