Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at April 26th, 2011

As the entire world is now struggling to decide if states’ efforts to develop nuclear energy should continue after what recently happened in Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant following the March 11 twin earthquake and tsunami disasters, there is also an ongoing public debate in Turkey: People wonder if the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government is doing the right thing as it seems determined to go ahead with its ambitious nuclear energy program. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 21st, 2011

Amid recent debates over creating a domestic car brand in Turkey, a Turkish wagon company has already managed to produce a domestic train named the Anatolia.

The train will run on diesel, making it highly attractive for markets whose transportation system is mainly designed for diesel, the top official of Turkish Wagon Industry, Inc., (TÜVASAŞ), the producer of the trains, told Today’s Zaman.

The country’s first domestic diesel train Anatolia was put on the tracks during a ceremony on Tuesday in the northwestern province of Sakarya. TÜVASAŞ General Manager İbrahim Ertiryaki told Today’s Zaman that the latest available technology was used in producing the wagons, 85 percent of which were produced locally. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 21st, 2011

Ankara’s subway system, which has yet to be completed despite 10 years of construction and 814 million Turkish Liras of investment, will receive another 3.1 billion liras from the Transportation Ministry to finish the line, authorities have said.

Subway work between Keçiören and the train station, Kızılay and Ümitköy, as well as between Sincan and Batıkent, will be launched simultaneously and completed within two years, according to the ministry’s plans, Transportation Minister Habib Soluk told journalists Tuesday.

The 44.4-kilometer-long Ankara metro line will cost the ministry 3.17 billion liras, Soluk said. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 11th, 2011

Aiming for growth in parallel with the fuel oil market in Turkey, BP’s local branch plans to open 40 new filling stations in the Turkish market this year, a written statement from BP Turkey said Friday.

Speaking at the Petroleum Istanbul 2011 fair that started Thursday, BP Turkey Fuel Manager Richard Harding said BP offers service quality to its customers with more than 600 filling stations in Turkey.

“We target a strong growth in 2011 in parallel with the fuel oil market. We plan to expand our station network, increase productivity and take 40 more stations in operation,” Harding said. “Being a company that has invested in the Turkish energy sector and economy since 100 years, we will continue investing with our innovative perspective in the upcoming period.” (more…)

Posted by meb at October 19th, 2009

Italy, Russia and Turkey signed an agreement on building the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline, according to Eni, Italy’s biggest oil company.

The project underscores a “joint commitment to enhance energy security,” according to a statement issued by Eni on Monday. The pipeline will run between Samsun on Turkey’s Black Sea coast and the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

The accord was signed in Milan Tuesday by Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, Italy’s Economy Minister Claudio Scajola and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 5th, 2009

Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı, or TPAO, Turkey’s state oil company, will start drilling for crude oil in the Black Sea in January, Chief Executive Officer Mehmet Uysal said last week.

The company has invested $5 billion in the past 10 years to explore the Black Sea and has identified 10 drilling prospects with capacity to cover Turkey’s consumption for 40 years, Uysal said in an interview in Bucharest.

TPAO has Black Sea exploration agreements with Brazil’s state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro, and signed a joint operation accord with Exxon Mobil in November.

“The Black Sea has huge reserves, which will be the main supplier of Europe within 10 or 15 years,” Uysal said. “Our modest estimates for those prospects are 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 1.5 trillion to 2 trillion cubic meters of gas.”

Once the 10 drilling prospects are proven as oil or gas bearing, TPAO will start production studies, which will take about five to seven years, and by 2017 or 2020 it will start production in those fields, he said. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 2nd, 2009

Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is eyeing the growing Turkish market, deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev told business daily Referans, adding that the firm might invest in the natural gas distribution and electricity production markets.

Gazprom aims to build and operate a center with the Aksa Group, a Turkish energy producer and supplier, in order to sell gas directly to Aksa once Turkey changes regulations that prevent such sales, Medvedev said.

Detailing the company’s negotiations with Botaş, the state-owned Turkish pipeline company, Medvedev said a volume discount in the context of the “purchase or pay” model is being discussed, but no official negotiations have started yet over the issue.

“We have reached an agreement on the political aspects of the Blue Stream-2 project,” said Medvedev. Speaking on Gazprom’s plans for the Turkish market, Medvedev pointed toward current legislative problems. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 24th, 2009

General Electric, or GE, a global media, technology, services and manufacturing company, has begun to invest in future technologies at its engine-parts division in Turkey’s northwestern city of Eskişehir, according to a GE executive.

The firm will produce new compressor-wing technologies only in Turkey, said GE Turkey Managing Director Kürşat Özkan. The investment totals nearly $50 million, he added.

Speaking about the global crisis and its impacts, Özkan said that GE will continue its activities in Turkey. “We have started investing in future technologies here in our Eskişehir division, although there is a capacity surplus in the world. New compressor-wing technologies will be produced only in Turkey.”

The firm has already started developing some of its production technologies in Turkey, he said, adding, “It may not sound reasonable to make such a manufacturing investment in a period marked with demand contraction in the market, but we will have positioned ourselves once the market demand returns.” (more…)