Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at November 11th, 2008

Preparations to finalize an energy cooperation contract with Iran are said to be reaching the final stages after a failure to sign the deal in August when the Iranian president was in Istanbul.

An official visit by Turkey’s energy minister to neighboring Iran in mid-November to finalize a long-awaited natural gas deal will be a litmus test for relations with the United States.

“It is not yet clear to what extent the United States will pretend to ignore this agreement,” senior energy expert Mete Göknel told the Hürriyet Daily News.

To Washington’s dismay, last year Turkey and Iran signed a preliminary agreement on energy cooperation and agreed to develop part of the giant South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf.

After the failure of the two sides to finalize an official contract during an August visit by Iran’s president to Istanbul, rumors revealed preparations have reached final stages. Turkey is planning to make a $3.5 billion investment in Iran for the exploration and production of natural gas. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 7th, 2008

European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said on Thursday he hoped Europe and Turkey would reach a deal early next year on transit terms to make the planned $12 billion Nabucco gas pipeline a reality.

But he also admitted that the viability of the pipeline could be threatened by the energy deals that Russia is pursuing in the Caspian region.

The long-delayed project is intended to carry 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Central Asian gas a year to Europe via Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary as part of a plan to reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian gas. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 4th, 2008

The EU’s top energy official will travel to Turkey on Wednesday to press Ankara to quickly complete talks about transporting natural gas from the Caucasus to Western Europe via Turkey.

The visit of EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalg will show the EU remains committed to the Nabucco pipeline project that faces stiff competition from Russia, diplomats say.

The EU wants to ease its dependence on Russia for energy. Moscow’s negotiations with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to direct their Caspian Sea gas supplies westward through Russia, has worried the European Union. Piebalg is confident the EU and Turkey can close a Nabucco transmission deal by years end. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 4th, 2008

While the tender process for the nation’s first nuclear power plant has not yet been finalized, the government has approved the start of a second plant

Having come under fire for mishandling the tender process for the nation’s first nuclear power plant, the Turkish government is already pushing the button for the go-ahead on a second station.

The only proposal to build the country’s first nuclear power plant in the Mediterranean coastal town of Akkuyu in Mersin, was submitted by a consortium formed by Russia’s Atomstroy export, Inter RAO and Turkey’s Park Teknik, a unit of Ciner Holding, last September.

Energy experts criticized the bid from the start, arguing the energy ministry had mismanaged the whole affair and Turkey would become even more dependent on Russia for energy. Several companies, including Turkey’s Sabancı Holding, requested a postponement of the tender and some said the timetable was insufficient to prepare a proposal, but the ministry pressed on. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 1st, 2008

US President George W. Bush has sent a high-profile team to Turkey to help “diversify Turkey’s energy mix and to promote Turkey’s role as a strategic energy corridor,” a senior US official has said.

US Deputy Secretary of Energy Jeffrey Kupfer arrived in Turkey on Thursday with a delegation of senior US officials to attend the World Economic Forum and hold high-level talks with Turkish politicians and members of the business community. The stated purpose of the visit was to reaffirm the “US commitment to help Turkey strengthen its energy security” and find ways in which the US could assist Turkey, such as financing projects during this time of crisis when commercial banks are much less willing to lend. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 31st, 2008

The U.S. government is seeking to provide financial support to energy projects in Turkey, senior officials from the Washington administration said.

“The U.S. is committed to the westward flow of the Caspian energy resources and recognizes Turkey plays a very important role in this regard… The U.S. government is ready to provide tangible support for the energy sector working in partnership with the Turkish government,” Jeffrey Kupfer, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, told a group of journalists on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Europe and Central Asia on Thursday.

Kupfer is leading a high-level American delegation including Robert Mosbacher, the president of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, John McAdams, COO of U.S. Export-Import Bank and Larry Walther, the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 31st, 2008

LUKOIL, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, has raised a three-year $250 million loan at 6.5 percent from a group of banks to finance its purchase of Turkish petrol retailer Akpet, it said on Friday.

The lenders were ABN Amro, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays Capital, Dresdner Kleinwort, ING and West LB.

LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov said at the time the acquisition was announced that the price was $500 million. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 22nd, 2008

Turkey expects to complete a nuclear power station tender within one or two weeks after “some questions are asked” to the winning Russian firm, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler told reporters on Wednesday.

A consortium led by Russian state firm Atomstroyexport, together with Inter RAO and Turkish Park Teknik, was the only bid in a tender to build and operate the country’s first nuclear power plant.

The tender was assessed as disappointing by analysts given the fact that a number of foreign and local companies had previously expressed interest but did not submit bids, making the Russian consortium the sole bidder.
source: Hurriyet daily