Türkiye's TPAO acquires stake in bp's Kirkuk oil project in Iraq

Türkiye's state-owned oil company Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) has acquired a 15% stake in bp Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited, which is involved in developing oil fields in the Kirkuk region of northern Iraq, the Turkish Energy Ministry announced.

Following the transaction, TPAO will join a consortium with bp and ConocoPhillips to develop the project and increase production. The project's resources are estimated at more than 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, Caliber.Az reports.

The development covers the Baba and Avanah domes of the Kirkuk field, as well as the Bai Hassan, Jambur, and Khabbaz oil fields. According to Reuters, these represent four producing oil fields, as Baba and Avana are part of the broader Kirkuk field.

In 2018, Iraq signed an agreement with bp to develop the Kirkuk oil assets. The company planned to increase combined production from the region's fields to more than 1 million barrels per day.

Oil from the Kirkuk region is exported through the Kirkuk–Ceyhan pipeline, which links northern Iraq with Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

By Jeyhun Aghazada