327 / 473
NEWSLETTER 2013
314
The Turkish Petroleum Law
5
*
Prof. Dr. H. Ercument Erdem
Turkish Petroleum Law No. 6491 (“Turkish Petroleum Law” or “the
Law”) entered into force through publication in the Official Gazette dated
11 June 2013 and numbered 28674. Prior to the Law, Petroleum Law No.
6326 was in force for 59 years.
In this article, the important modifications enacted by the Turkish
Petroleum Law shall be analyzed.
Purpose and Scope
The purpose and scope of the Turkish Petroleum Law is set forth
under Article 1. Pursuant to said article, the purpose of the Law is to
enable expedient, continuous and effective exploration, development
and production of petroleum resources of the Republic of Turkey in
accordance with the national interests. With this provision, the term
“in accordance with the national interests”, which was subject to veto
and criticism previously, has been maintained. Another issue subject
to criticism is that this notion is not limited to the purpose and scope
provision, but can be found in the relevant law in its entirety.
Exploration License, Application and Licensing
Articles 6-8 of the Law set forth provisions related to the exploration
license, application and licensing procedure and operating license. Under
Article 6 of the Petroleum Law No. 6326, it was set forth that the right
to obtain a permit, exploration and operating license shall be exercised
by Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (“TPAO”) on behalf of the state.
On the other hand, the Turkish Petroleum Law does not contain such
provision and abrogates TPAO’s right arising from the Law. In this way,
private companies will be able to file a license application under the same
conditions with TPAO concerning any field.
The Petroleum Law No. 6326, under Article 6, regulated that a
permit, exploration and operating license could be granted in favor of
*
Article of August 2013