Yildiz: Azerbaijan can search oil in Turkish waters

Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz has stated on Monday that Azerbaijan can search for oil and natural gas in Turkish seas. Yildiz who is currently in Azerbaijan to attend the World Economic Forum had a meeting with the Director of Azerbaijan's state oil company, SOCAR, Rovnag Abdullayev After their tete-a-tete meeting, Yildiz and Abdullayev headed to the forum and replied the questions of reporters, assessed fulfilled projects of both countries in the energy field. Minister Yildiz stated, they may hold joint projects with Azerbaijan or with third countries in the East Mediterranean. Yildiz noted, as long as the politics were not putting stress on the energy field, the sector would ease and more projects would come out and added, because of a long lasting stability both in Turkey and Azerbaijan, two countries were agreeing on joint projects. Yildiz underscored that Azerbaijan was having experience in the field of searching oil for over 60 years and said, Turkish seas were open to Azerbaijan to search for oil and natural gas and added, they held their first negotiations regarding the subject. Meanwhile, director of SOCAR, Abdullayev touched on the joint project of Turkey and Azerbaijan, TANAP and added, socialization works were continuing and the construction would start off in 2014. He added, financial issues were almost over and there would not be more problems in that issue. He highlighted, SOCAR was holding major projects in Azerbaijan too, not only in Turkey and said, they would build a petroleum refinery worth about 14-15 billion USD. Moreover, within the scope of his Azerbaijan programme, Minister Yildiz came together with  Managing Director of World Economic Forum Borge Brende, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar and Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Baklytzhan Sagintayev.