MOL Group and Turkish Petroleum have entered into concession agreements with Hungary's Ministry of Energy, granting the companies rights for joint hydrocarbon exploration in two concession areas in Hungary, Tamási and Buzsák, reported europétrole.

The concession agreements were signed in Budapest by MOL Group chairman and CEO Zsolt Hernádi and Turkish Petroleum chairman and CEO Ahmet Türkoğlu.

Hungary's Ministry of Energy, after a five-year break, announced new mining concessions last autumn to enhance domestic production and mitigate import reliance.

MOL Group successfully secured four out of the five concessions it bid for. The company independently bid for the Kiskőrös and Hatvan areas, while it partnered with TPOC, a subsidiary of Turkish Petroleum, for the Buzsák and Tamási concessions.

MOL Group chairman and CEO Zsolt Hernádi said: “I am proud to be signing this Concession Agreement along with our respected partner, Turkish Petroleum. Today's ceremony is the culmination of months of hard work in which we have taken MOL and TPAO's cooperation to a new strategic level.

“Beyond our close partnership, TPAO's entry into the Hungarian upstream sector is also a vote of confidence by TPAO in the Hungarian business environment.”

In addition to these Hungarian projects, MOL and Turkish Petroleum are scouting for further collaborative opportunities across the Caspian region, the Black Sea, North Africa, and central and eastern Europe.

The companies formalised their strategic partnership last October with a memorandum of understanding to jointly engage in exploration, field development and production projects across these regions.

Turkish Petroleum chairman and CEO Ahmet Türkoğlu said: “We have enjoyed a strong and long-standing partnership with MOL in Azerbaijan. Strengthened by our joint investments, this collaboration has inspired us to pursue further opportunities together.

“With this confidence, we took our first concrete step by signing a joint exploration agreement with MOL at two sites in Hungary. Looking ahead, we plan to leverage this positive momentum to inspire new joint ventures with MOL in various regions.”