Turkish company eyes energy investments in Iran

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Turkish energy company Turcas Petrol is looking at entering the Iranian energy market through investments in oil, gas or renewables following the lifting of most sanctions against the Islamic Republic, its chief executive said on May 3.

“We believe we definitely must be in Iran,” Batu Aksoy told reporters. 

“At a time when growth in the world is stalling, a market like Iran could be a driving force both globally and for Turkey,” he added.

Turcas is interested in teaming up with a local company but is also open to cooperating with Turkish firms, Aksoy said.

Most international sanctions including those targeting Tehran’s oil sector were lifted in January in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program under a deal reached with world powers in 2015.

Some U.S. sanctions and a U.S. trade embargo remain in place.

“We have been shuttling back and forth between Iran and Turkey for the past five years. We have established networks before the lifting of sanctions. Now the embargo is lifted, they are more sympathetic to doing business with us,” he said.

Supplying natural gas from Iran, as well as projects for oil and its derivatives, as well as renewable investments, were all on the agenda, he said.

Turcas has fuel retail business in Turkey in a partnership with Royal Dutch Shell. It has also set up power generation companies Germany’s RWE.