Page 9 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.72, # 1, 2015, pp. 5-26

(157 billion barrels) and occupies the second place after Russia by the proven

reserves of natural gas. For example, the border zone between Iran and Qatar in the

Gulf is represented by the huge area of 9700 square kilometres with considerable gas

deposits. Qatari part of it bears the name «North Field» and Iranian − «South Pars»

gas field. Official Ankara‘s dependence on Russian «blue fuel» remains substantial,

what forces it to look for alternative suppliers in Azerbaijan and Iran. On the other

hand, Turkey is the one and only Iranian neighbour with direct land access to

Southern Europe and 1,650 kilometers long coastline in the Black Sea region, what

represents the commercial interest for Iranian business community in terms of transit

of energy resources towards richest market of the world. During the last 10 years

«Turkish Petroleum Corporation» (TPAO) conducted research works in the Black

Sea, but the results were inconclusive [8].

In 2013 Turkey imported oil, gas and coal to cover 70 per cent of energy

demands. The expenses for fuel import constituted 55 billion dollars [9]. The needs of

the country remain substantial – fuel has to be provided for «Turkish Airlines», which

boast hundreds of planes, to guarantee the work of transport infrastructure catering the

tens of millions of international tourists, to generate the electricity for the cities scattered

in huge land area. Moreover, the taxation of fuel plays increasingly important role in

shaping of budget profits. As a result, the country is notorious for extremely expensive

gasoline, since the taxes constitute more than half of the final price [10]. So, Turkey is

constantly looking for the suppliers of energy with moderate prices.

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