Turkish Parliament opens way to oil market liberalization
Hurriyet Daily News
A petroleum
market draft code has passed into law in General Assembly of the
Parliament despite the opposition’s outcry over the measures which
diminishes the role of state-owned TPAO in the market.
The Turkish Parliament’s General Assembly has approved a draft code on
the petroleum market that comprises regulations to boost the dynamism in
the sector by easing the circumstances for private actors and to end
rentiers in the sector.
The new law, which is designed to
regulate oil exploration and production operations in compliance with
the country’s energy policies has passed into law late on May 29.
The government says the new regulations would liberalize the sector significantly.
But opposing groups say that it would leave the state-run Turkish Petroleum Company (TPAO) in a weaker position.
During
the discussion of the draft in Parliament, one of the main opposition
Republican People’s Party deputies attacked the draft, blaming the
government for “not thinking to make exploration and production more
efficient and rather seeking ways to please foreign capital.”
The
real aim is to transform TPAO into a company that can operate flexibly
in international markets, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said,
answering questions. “As long as we can achieve this, it can remain a
state company, can become a private company, can be offered to the
public, or not.”
According to the existing law, TPAO may acquire
more licenses in each region provided that the total number of licenses
does not exceed 10 times the number of petroleum regions. However, the
limitation on the number of licensees per region has been completely
removed in the draft law. Furthermore, TPAO no longer has any special
privileges over other exploration companies.
Yıldız said none of
top global energy companies like BP, Shell or Exxon were state firms,
noting that 41 percent of the world’s integrated companies are private
firms.“Total being owned by France doesn’t mean it is France’s national
company,” he added.
End to rentiers
Another prominent reform to be brought with the new law is the measure taken against inefficient operations in the market.
The
new scheme suggests regulations to force companies to search for oil
and gas promptly, instead of holding fields without making any
investments for long periods.
Under the present law, companies
are able to hold petroleum fields without making any investments.
However, according to the new law draft, companies that do not make
investments in the areas they are committed to will be discharged from
the petroleum field and their deposits will not be refunded.
The
law also divides Turkey into two petroleum regions – onshore and
offshore – instead of 18 regions as it had been. The offshore region is
also divided into two regions: interior and exterior territorial waters.
The companies will be also obliged to present their annual investment plan in order to obtain their research license.
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