In Venezuela, Turkish energy chief inks deals to boost oil, gas links
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar (R) and Venezuela's Petroleum Minister Pedro Rafael Tellechea Ruiz sign a memorandum of understanding, Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 31, 2024. (X photo: @aBayraktar1)


Türkiye's Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar is visiting Venezuela seeking to strengthen collaboration in the oil, natural gas and mining fields.

The two nations on Wednesday signed two separate memoranda of understandings on oil, gas and mining, Bayraktar said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The agreements were signed respectively with Venezuela's Petroleum Minister Pedro Rafael Tellechea Ruiz and Ecological Mining Development Minister William Serantes Pinto.

"I hope that these signatures will yield results that further deepen the relations between the two countries," Bayraktar said.

On Tuesday, Bayraktar held talks with Ruiz in the capital, Caracas.

"We came (here) to evaluate the collaborations we can develop in the fields of oil and natural gas exploration, production, trade, and services," he said.

For his part, Ruiz on Instagram said he had a "productive" meeting with Bayraktar.

"We reviewed various issues of strategic cooperation and the great window of opportunity that exists for investments in oil and gas," he wrote.

Later in the day, the Turkish minister met with Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

Bayraktar and Rodriguez discussed "strengthening alliances on energy and mining between both nations to increase commercial exchange and encourage direct investments," Rodriguez wrote on X.

Bayraktar also met separately with Pinto.

"We discussed investment and cooperation opportunities in the field of mining," he said on X.

The two ministers also held consultations on areas in which Turkish companies like the state-owned mining and chemicals company Eti Maden, Mineral Research and Exploration General Directorate (MTA) and Turkish Petroleum International Company (TPIC) could operate in Venezuela.