Turkey is moving closer to signing a new oil and gas exploration agreement with Libya as part of efforts to compensate for reduced Russian crude imports following U.S. sanctions on Russian energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil, along with their subsidiaries.
Turkish refineries have significantly cut back purchases of Russian crude, prompting Ankara to seek alternative suppliers, including Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan.
Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told Bloomberg that Turkey is preparing to finalize exploration agreements not only with Libya and Iraq but also with Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan, to diversify its energy sources and ensure stable supplies.
Bayraktar revealed that Ankara will soon announce a new deal with Libya, recalling that Tripoli had launched its first oil exploration tender in more than 17 years last March.
He added that Turkey is also interested in hydrocarbon exploration in Iraq as part of broader regional cooperation plans in the energy sector.
Turkey and Libya previously signed a memorandum of understanding in 2022 on oil and gas exploration in Libyan territorial waters, following their 2019 maritime boundary agreement that established a framework for joint energy cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
