ExxonMobil exploring Black Sea

ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Texas-based ExxonMobil Corp. announced Wednesday it has signed an agreement with a Turkish state-owned oil company to explore the Black Sea.

ExxonMobil released a statement Wednesday saying it had reached an agreement with Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi to make its first entrance into deepwater blocks in the Black Sea.

ExxonMobil will take a 50 percent stake in two offshore blocks measuring 3,280 square miles and 8,100 square miles, both in waters reaching a depth of 1.2 miles.

"ExxonMobil is pleased to team up with TPAO to explore the hydrocarbon potential of these deepwater Black Sea blocks," said the chief of ExxonMobil Exploration Co., Tim Cejka. "We look forward to bringing our global deepwater experience to this prospective unexplored area."

Evaluation of the two offshore blocks is expected to conclude in 2009, the statement said. TPAO, the only state-run oil firm in Turkey, announced in 2004 its intention to meet domestic energy demands through increased exploration.

"Together, TPAO and ExxonMobil have all the tools required to fully evaluate the potential of these blocks and safely develop whatever commercial quantities of oil and gas we discover," said TPAO President and Chief Executive Mehmet Uysal. "We look forward to working together on an aggressive exploration program to see what we can find."