Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) applied on September 16 for a petroleum operating licence covering 56,774 hectares of oil-bearing acreage in the Black Sea.
The General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs (MAPEG), part of Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, published the application in the September 25 Official Gazette. The notice records a request for one operating licence.
The requested area lies on map sheet C26 within TPAO’s existing petroleum exploration licence, designated AR/TPO/KD/C26, C27, D26 and D27. The operating-licence application covers C26; the other three map sheets are also part of the exploration licence.
MAPEG described the application as concerning oil-bearing land discovered within that exploration area. The 56,774 hectares (568 square kilometres) measure the area for which TPAO seeks operating rights.
According to the notice, the exploration licence lies within Turkey’s Black Sea maritime jurisdiction, which bilateral delimitation agreements define as including an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.
In a separate development, the same Official Gazette issue carried a MAPEG decision concerning TPAO’s onshore exploration licence AR/TPO/K/F18-d3 in Tekirdağ. The regulator extended that licence from May 31, 2026, to May 31, 2028.
