Ankara, January 26: Iran has offered Turkey several small oil and gas fields to develop, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Monday.
Ankara plans to pass the proposal on to private companies, Yildiz told reporters, adding the offer would require an investment of $100-200 million. He did not give other details.
An earlier project for Turkey to develop three large gas fields in Iran had been dropped as the two neighbours failed to agree on the terms, Yildiz said.
He explained Turkey wanted to both use and sell on to third parties part of the gas to be produced but Iranian law made that impossible.
“The decision was made purely on technical grounds,” he said, rejecting suggestions that international pressure on Iran over its nuclear activities had had any influence.
A preliminary deal on the project — signed in 2007 and involving also the possibility to carry gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to Europe via Turkey — was slammed by the United States as it pushed its allies, including NATO member Turkey, to cut business with Iran.
Yildiz stressed that UN sanctions imposed on Iran did not hinder cooperation in energy projects with the Islamic republic.
Turkey has said it will abide by UN sanctions but ruled out following tougher measures imposed unilaterally by the United States and the European Union.
In June, Turkey, then a non-permanent member of the Security Council, voted against a fourth round of sanctions the council approved against Iran, arguing that a nuclear fuel swap deal it had negotiated together with Brazil the previous month should be given a chance.
In September, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara wanted a preferential trade agreement with Tehran to triple bilateral trade in five years.
Turkey’s improving ties with Iran, coupled with a deep crisis in relations with one-time friend Israel, have sparked concern that Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted government is taking NATO’s sole majority Muslim member away from the West. Ankara denies this is the case.
Last week, Turkey hosted talks between Iran and world powers aimed at easing concerns that Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons but the meeting ended without any progress..
–Agencies