Turkey Friday threatened reprisals against companies bidding for oil and gas drilling projects off Cyprus, in the latest spat between Ankara and the island's internationally recognized government.
Turkey
Friday threatened reprisals against companies bidding for oil and gas drilling
projects off
Cyprus
, in
the latest spat between
Ankara
and
the island's internationally recognized government.
"The companies...which cooperate with GKRY (the Greek Cypriot
administration) will not be included in energy projects in
Turkey
in
the future," the foreign ministry said.
Turkey
's
strong warning came after the
Cyprus
government--which isn't recognized by
Ankara
--
said 29 companies had made 15 bids for exploratory drilling in a second round
of licensing to exploit offshore oil and gas deposits.
A final decision is expected to be taken by the Cypriot government within the
next six months on the tenders which cover 12 out of a total 13 blocks.
The Turkish foreign ministry called on the countries and companies concerned to
act with "common sense" and withdraw from the bidding.
"Despite our warnings, companies cooperating with GKRY on natural gas by
ignoring the Turkish Cypriots' rights will cause tensions in the region and the
companies in question will be responsible for it," it said.
The ministry said it has also contacted the countries concerned "through
diplomatic channels" to convey
Turkey
's
concerns.
Bids were submitted to
Cyprus
from
10 consortia and five companies from 15 countries. Among the companies were
Total SA (TOT) of France, Petronas Gas Bhd (6033.KU) of Malaysia, KOGAS of
South Korea, Delek Group Ltd. (DGRLY) of Israel, ATP Oil & Gas Corp. (ATPG)
of the U.S., Novatek (NVTK.RS) of Russia, Petra Petroleum Inc. (PTL.V) of
Canada and Vitol Holding of the U.K.
U.S. firm Noble Energy Inc. (NBL), which was awarded the remaining block, said
last year it had discovered gas reserves of up to 8 trillion cubic feet (226
billion cubic meters) with an estimated value of EUR100 billion ($127 billion).
This would satisfy the eastern Mediterranean island's domestic gas needs for
decades.
Turkey
has
protested strongly against the Cypriot government's search for offshore oil and
gas.
It says the exploration is an abuse of the rights of Turkish Cypriots to the
same resources and has retaliated by launching its own exploratory drilling in
the breakaway
Turkish
Republic
of
Northern
Cyprus
.
Cyprus
has
been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern
third in response to an Athens-engineered coup
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