Bloomberg: OYAK has become the key buyer of Libyan oil

OYAK steadily increased its purchases of Libyan crude oil, which it started in January, to approximately 6 million barrels per month.

According to data from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), this amount corresponds to approximately 16 percent of Libya's oil exports.

According to Bloomberg, Turkish Petroleum International Company (TPIC), which was established to carry out international projects within the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), supplies oil from the Libyan National Petroleum Corporation (NOC). Oyak also purchases oil from TPIC.

Türkiye, which has the second largest army in NATO, has been keeping military trainers in Libya since 2020 to support the internationally recognized government in Tripoli.

While Turkey has been improving its relations with the administration in eastern Libya in recent years, the House of Representatives in Eastern Libya unanimously approved in October the memorandum of understanding on the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction signed between Turkey and the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord in 2019.

According to TPIC's 2015 annual report, TPIC and NOC signed a crude oil purchase-sale agreement in 2013, but deliveries were later interrupted due to political unrest in Libya. TPIC's website states that it currently has "strategic agreements with public companies in the Mediterranean region" and lists crude oil and Libya among its current activities, without providing details.

According to some of the sources speaking to Bloomberg, Istanbul-based Nakkaş Holding supported Oyak in shipments from Libya with its experience in trade.

Nakkaş Chairman Ramazan Öztürk attended the meeting held in Tripoli between the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar and the Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dibeybe in January, according to the official photos of the visit. Bayraktar said at that time that "hydrocarbon exploration, production and trade" were discussed at the meeting.

Nakkaş owns the Global Terminal Services oil storage facility on Turkey's Mediterranean coast and transports fuel by road between Türkiye and Northern Iraq. The company acquired fuel retail company Alpet last year.

Oyak and Nakkaş's Türkiye-based construction and agriculture company Tekfen Holding A.Ş. There is also a connection via . According to Dutch company records, there are executives from both parties on the board of directors of Netherlands-based ON Investment BV, which purchased 42.8 percent of Tekfen's shares this year.

Energy Targets

The fund's $34 billion portfolio includes TotalEnergies SE branded fuel stations in Turkey and liquefied petroleum gas distributor Milangaz, as well as steel, automotive and financial intermediary companies. In February, Oyak announced plans to nearly double its assets to $60 billion by 2030.

Other Turkish companies operating in Libya include TPAO, which won the tender for two exploration blocks in the country's offshore field in February. Turkish capital commodity trading company BGN states that it has a strong position in Libya and is one of the important players in the country's oil-for-fuel swap program.