Turkey may begin oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean within three or four months under a deal it signed with Libya, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Friday.
Turkey says it creates an exclusive economic zone from its southern coast to Libya’s northeast coast, and protects its rights to natural resources.
“Within the framework of the agreement we reached with Libya we will be able to start our oil exploration operations there within three to four months,” Dönmez said while speaking at a ceremony to mark the launch of Turkey’s Fatih oil-and-gas drilling ship, which is setting off to the Black Sea.