Norway’s energy giant closes Turkey office

Merve Erdil - ISTANBUL

REUTERS Photo

Norway’s Statoil announced the closure of its offices in Turkey on June 15, after its sale of a stake in Malaysian company Petronas’ Shah Deniz project in Azerbaijan.

The sale, which was finalized on May 1, involved the transfer of Statoil’s 15.5 percent participating interest in the Shah Deniz production sharing agreement, 15.5 percent share in the South Caucasus Pipeline Company (SCPC), 15.5 percent share in the SCPC holding company, and 12.4 percent share in the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company (AGSC).

“Statoil planned to play a role in selling Azeri gas to the Turkish market when it first entered into the market in 2001. Statoil, one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas [LNG] players, made a partnership deal with the Koç Group to conduct LNG trade, but later it sold its share to the same company. Since then, Statoil had only a contact office in Turkey and now it has decided to close this office down,” said a sector representative. 

In a written statement issued to a number of energy companies in Turkey, Statoil stated that it decided to close down its office in the country after ending gas supply deals, but it would continue to follow the Turkish market closely. 

The company operates in 35 countries, and is still a partner in the “Azeri-Chirag-Güneşli” and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipelines.

French oil major Total sold out of Shah Deniz in May, saying it would focus on operating projects rather than holding minority stakes.