Exports have driven corporate Turkish growth over the last decade and are poised to continue to do so, with overseas energy investment playing a key and growing role. But this has left the fate of some of Turkey’s largest companies tied to areas of severe political unrest.
Energy poor Turkey may not be a corporate oil and gas hotspot. But the last few years have seen a plethora of new upstream and services firms emerge as the country’s traditional conglomerates diversify into what is seen as a strategic sector. Examples include the KOC Group, best known for its Beko consumer appliances brand, and Mehmet Sepil, founder of Anglo-Turkish oil firm Genel Energy, which dominates the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) upstream. Mr Sepil started off as a construction entrepreneur with his Zafer Group. Other construction firms, such as 77 Construction and Contracting, are also looking at the sector. Turkish firm Karadeniz has pioneered the use of electricity barges, providing power to both Lebanon and Iraq’s Basra province. (CONTINUED - 785 WORDS)
