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Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Turkey is seeking to deepen oil cooperation with Italian energy company Eni and that a significant announcement is forthcoming. "We will make an important announcement with Eni soon," Bayraktar said at the Italy-Turkey Energy Partnership and Business Matchmaking Event held at the Venice Palace in Istanbul.

Bayraktar also announced that the National Energy 2040 Plan will be presented next week and that Turkey will unveil a larger renewable energy target at COP31.

Wider cooperation in a period of repeated crises

Bayraktar said there are substantial opportunities for cooperation between Turkey and Italy in energy and mining, and that the two countries have complementary strengths. Political ties have moved in a positive direction in recent years, the minister said.

"In today's difficult environment, in a period when we face crises one after another every day, I believe there is a need for much broader cooperation between countries," Bayraktar said, adding that Italy and Turkey are a very positive example of such cooperation. The world is facing the biggest energy crisis of modern history, and successive crises are becoming the new normal, Bayraktar said, arguing for more comprehensive and multilateral cooperation under the new conditions.

Electrification at the centre of the 2040 plan

Bayraktar identified three main challenges in Turkey's energy sector: rising demand, dependence on imports and decarbonization. Policies addressing these issues will create significant investment opportunities, the minister said. The National Energy 2040 Plan will be announced next week.

"Electrification is at the centre of this new strategy and our approach to those three problems. We will electrify our economy. We will see more electrification across all sectors of the economy, from industry to buildings," Bayraktar said. The minister also stressed the need to expand production capacity, upgrade transmission infrastructure and use energy efficiently, and said Turkey's priority is to benefit as much as possible from renewable sources.

Bayraktar recalled that Turkey announced a 120 gigawatt renewable energy target at COP29, held in Baku in 2024, and said Turkey "will announce a much larger and more ambitious target in renewable energy at COP31." Energy efficiency and nuclear power are also important elements of the strategy, the minister added.

Oil, gas and partnerships beyond Turkey and Italy

Bayraktar noted that Italian energy companies are involved in Turkey's natural gas production in the Black Sea and said European Union countries are interested in Turkey as an alternative to Russian gas. The minister also thanked SACE, Italy's official export credit institution, for financing projects the two sides have developed together.

Turkey is also investing in oil exploration, Bayraktar said. "We plan to establish cooperation with oil companies. One of them is Eni. We will make an important announcement with Eni soon. I cannot share the details of the agreement right now; we need to finalize it first. But this is a big project," the minister said.

Cooperation need not be limited to partnerships in Italy or Turkey, Bayraktar said. "We can form partnerships in third countries and different regions, from Africa to the Middle East and from the Middle East to Central Asia, and we are ready for that," Bayraktar said. Turkey has developed many projects, some involving Italian companies, and offers them for the supply security of Europe and the wider region as well as its own, the minister said.

Key takeaways

• Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said an important announcement on oil cooperation with Italian company Eni will be made soon.
• Turkey will present the National Energy 2040 Plan next week, with electrification at the centre of the strategy.
• Turkey will announce a larger and more ambitious renewable energy target at COP31, after setting 120 gigawatts at COP29 in Baku in 2024.
• Bayraktar said Turkish and Italian companies can form partnerships in third countries, from Africa to Central Asia.