Kirkuk move propels Türkiye into global energy league
Sefer Levent-ISTANBUL
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar attended a signing ceremony in Ankara earlier this week for an agreement under which Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) will acquire a 15 percent stake in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited (BPECKL).
A day later, Bayraktar met Kirkuk Governor Mehmet Seman Agha at the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry in Ankara and said: “Since the beginning of 2026, we have been signing agreements with international companies to expand TPAO and make it more active in different parts of the world. With this agreement, Türkiye has become a partner with BP in the fields in Kirkuk. This is one of our most important steps toward turning Turkish Petroleum into a company producing 1 million barrels of oil and natural gas per day.”
At first glance, the TPAO-BP agreement announced by Bayraktar may appear to be a simple share transfer. However, it points to a much deeper shift in Türkiye’s regional energy strategy. By acquiring a 15 percent stake in BPECKL, BP’s main operating company in Kirkuk, TPAO is moving Türkiye’s position in the energy equation from that of a pipeline operator to that of an upstream producer.
