Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ANKARA2206
2007-08-27 14:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:
TURKEY DECLARES CYPRIOT TENDERS FOR OIL
how-toVZCZCXYZ0002 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHAK #2206/01 2391405 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 271405Z AUG 07 FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3544 INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3237 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002206
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/CPD/CRUSNAK
EEB FOR A/S SULLIVAN
EUR FOR DAS BRYZA
SCA FOR MANN
DOE FOR HEGBURG
USTDA FOR DAN STEIN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2017
TAGS: AJ ENRG EPET IR IZ KZ RS TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY DECLARES CYPRIOT TENDERS FOR OIL
EXPLORATION ILLEGAL
REF: A. ANKARA 474
B. NICOSIA 675
Classified By: A/DCM Dan Sreebny for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002206
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/CPD/CRUSNAK
EEB FOR A/S SULLIVAN
EUR FOR DAS BRYZA
SCA FOR MANN
DOE FOR HEGBURG
USTDA FOR DAN STEIN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2017
TAGS: AJ ENRG EPET IR IZ KZ RS TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY DECLARES CYPRIOT TENDERS FOR OIL
EXPLORATION ILLEGAL
REF: A. ANKARA 474
B. NICOSIA 675
Classified By: A/DCM Dan Sreebny for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)
1. (U) We met this week with the TPAO (Turkish Petroleum
Corporation) Acting General Director Mehmet Uyusal, MFA
Acting Deputy Director General for Cyprus Huseyin Muftaoglu,
Maritime Department Head Mehmet Poroy, and Norwegian Charge
Stian Christensen to discuss the recent Cypriot announcement
of bid results for oil and gas exploration licenses in the
Mediterranean Sea. GOT officials stated that they believe
the Government of Cyprus' tender offer for oil and gas
exploration of the Mediterranean Sea was illegal. The Turks
believe that the 2004 Egypt-Cyprus agreement demarcating the
sea between those two countries was also illegal because
Turkey was not consulted. The MFA said the GOT has lodged a
complaint bilaterally and also with the UN. Poroy said "by
offering this tender, the Greek Cypriots have started an
unwelcome delimitation race" of the Mediterranean. Muftaoglu
conveyed the GOT view that the GOC approach on oil
exploration is yet another example of Cyprus' ongoing effort
to bring political pressure against Turkey. He said the
Greek Cypriots' policy is to portray the GOT as the obstinate
party and regional bully on a number of issues.
2. (C) Ideally, the Turks would like to halt the current
tender process and discontinue exploration until the
following are completed: (1) a comprehensive settlement on
Cyprus is reached, and (2) a conference of all Mediterranean
littoral states is called and delimitation of the sea is
agreed. With strong emotion in his voice, Poroy added that
Turks have "rights of jurisdiction in the sea" and "(we) will
never give them up." To demonstrate their determination to
lay a claim to Mediterranean sea-bed resources, we learned
from TPAO that Turkey has claimed an exploration block that
overlaps slightly with one of the blocks being tendered by
Cyprus. The GOT has given TPAO a license to begin
exploration in this block, along with three neighboring
blocks that are not in dispute. TPAO will send a seismic
vessel to do research on all four blocks in mid-November and
the results should be available by December. We understand
that the bids received by the GOC on August 16 did not
include the disputed block. Commenting on the lack of bids
received by the GOC for exploration in the Med, TPAO
confidently said "there is no potential for oil in southern
Cyprus waters," although there could be gas.
3. (C) From press reports and ref B, we understand that U.S.
firm Noble Energy and a consortium of Norwegian, UAE and
British firms entered bids for 3 of the 11 blocks offered by
the Cypriot government. We spoke with the Norwegian Charge
Stian Christensen who was surprised to hear the Norwegian
firm DNO had participated in the tender. According to
Christensen, DNO is active in the oil sector in Northern
Iraq, including cross border fuel deliveries into Turkey.
Believing that its operations might lie in harm,s way if
Turkey decided to launch a cross-border attack on the PKK,
DNO had contacted the Norwegian Embassy for assistance in
communicating its activities to the GOT. Christensen
commented that investing in oil and gas exploration blocks
disputed by the GOT was not the best way to get on the GOT's
good side. He said Norwegian state oil company Statoil had
decided not to bid on the Cyprus tenders because it is a
stakeholder in the Shah Deniz gas field.
4. (SBU) Comment: Any issue related to the status of Cyprus
continues to be highly sensitive for the GOT. Even though it
was only a restatement of existing US policy, the recent USG
statement that the "GOC is a sovereign nation with the right
to request bids for oil exploration" upset the Turks and
overshadowed the more welcome US message supporting a
comprehensive settlement in Cyprus. Underlying this
frustration is the Turkish conviction that the discovery of
oil or gas off the southwest coast of Cyprus will make
reunification even more difficult. End comment.
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/
WILSON
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/CPD/CRUSNAK
EEB FOR A/S SULLIVAN
EUR FOR DAS BRYZA
SCA FOR MANN
DOE FOR HEGBURG
USTDA FOR DAN STEIN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2017
TAGS: AJ ENRG EPET IR IZ KZ RS TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY DECLARES CYPRIOT TENDERS FOR OIL
EXPLORATION ILLEGAL
REF: A. ANKARA 474
B. NICOSIA 675
Classified By: A/DCM Dan Sreebny for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)
1. (U) We met this week with the TPAO (Turkish Petroleum
Corporation) Acting General Director Mehmet Uyusal, MFA
Acting Deputy Director General for Cyprus Huseyin Muftaoglu,
Maritime Department Head Mehmet Poroy, and Norwegian Charge
Stian Christensen to discuss the recent Cypriot announcement
of bid results for oil and gas exploration licenses in the
Mediterranean Sea. GOT officials stated that they believe
the Government of Cyprus' tender offer for oil and gas
exploration of the Mediterranean Sea was illegal. The Turks
believe that the 2004 Egypt-Cyprus agreement demarcating the
sea between those two countries was also illegal because
Turkey was not consulted. The MFA said the GOT has lodged a
complaint bilaterally and also with the UN. Poroy said "by
offering this tender, the Greek Cypriots have started an
unwelcome delimitation race" of the Mediterranean. Muftaoglu
conveyed the GOT view that the GOC approach on oil
exploration is yet another example of Cyprus' ongoing effort
to bring political pressure against Turkey. He said the
Greek Cypriots' policy is to portray the GOT as the obstinate
party and regional bully on a number of issues.
2. (C) Ideally, the Turks would like to halt the current
tender process and discontinue exploration until the
following are completed: (1) a comprehensive settlement on
Cyprus is reached, and (2) a conference of all Mediterranean
littoral states is called and delimitation of the sea is
agreed. With strong emotion in his voice, Poroy added that
Turks have "rights of jurisdiction in the sea" and "(we) will
never give them up." To demonstrate their determination to
lay a claim to Mediterranean sea-bed resources, we learned
from TPAO that Turkey has claimed an exploration block that
overlaps slightly with one of the blocks being tendered by
Cyprus. The GOT has given TPAO a license to begin
exploration in this block, along with three neighboring
blocks that are not in dispute. TPAO will send a seismic
vessel to do research on all four blocks in mid-November and
the results should be available by December. We understand
that the bids received by the GOC on August 16 did not
include the disputed block. Commenting on the lack of bids
received by the GOC for exploration in the Med, TPAO
confidently said "there is no potential for oil in southern
Cyprus waters," although there could be gas.
3. (C) From press reports and ref B, we understand that U.S.
firm Noble Energy and a consortium of Norwegian, UAE and
British firms entered bids for 3 of the 11 blocks offered by
the Cypriot government. We spoke with the Norwegian Charge
Stian Christensen who was surprised to hear the Norwegian
firm DNO had participated in the tender. According to
Christensen, DNO is active in the oil sector in Northern
Iraq, including cross border fuel deliveries into Turkey.
Believing that its operations might lie in harm,s way if
Turkey decided to launch a cross-border attack on the PKK,
DNO had contacted the Norwegian Embassy for assistance in
communicating its activities to the GOT. Christensen
commented that investing in oil and gas exploration blocks
disputed by the GOT was not the best way to get on the GOT's
good side. He said Norwegian state oil company Statoil had
decided not to bid on the Cyprus tenders because it is a
stakeholder in the Shah Deniz gas field.
4. (SBU) Comment: Any issue related to the status of Cyprus
continues to be highly sensitive for the GOT. Even though it
was only a restatement of existing US policy, the recent USG
statement that the "GOC is a sovereign nation with the right
to request bids for oil exploration" upset the Turks and
overshadowed the more welcome US message supporting a
comprehensive settlement in Cyprus. Underlying this
frustration is the Turkish conviction that the discovery of
oil or gas off the southwest coast of Cyprus will make
reunification even more difficult. End comment.
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/
WILSON