Türkiye Geothermal Deal Signed by TPAO and Baker Hughes

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes · Last updated: 12 November 2026

Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), owned by the Turkish state, and U.S. energy services company Baker Hughes have agreed to cooperate on developing Türkiye's geothermal energy. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced the deal on 11 November 2026. The Türkiye geothermal deal works in two stages. First, the partners measure national potential from records kept by TPAO and the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA). Then they look for well sites fit for commercial-scale projects. Bayraktar announced the agreement on X after it was signed in Antalya, where the COP31 climate summit was under way. He disclosed no financial terms.

What TPAO and Baker Hughes Agreed in Antalya

Bayraktar said the agreement followed his meeting with Lorenzo Simonelli, chief executive of Baker Hughes, during COP31 in the southern Turkish city of Antalya. A photograph he posted on X shows the minister overseeing the signing between the two companies.

The deal is described as a cooperation agreement. That is a commitment to work together, not a contract for drilling or equipment. Bayraktar gave no figures on cost or investment, and he did not say how the work would be divided between the two companies.

That leaves the scale of the deal open. What exists so far is a named partnership and a stated purpose, announced by the minister himself on social media.

How the Assessment Will Use TPAO and MTA Data

The first task is a survey of what Türkiye holds underground. Bayraktar said the country's geothermal potential will be evaluated from records kept by TPAO and by the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration, the state body known as MTA.

Only after that review will the partners look for places where commercial-scale geothermal output makes sense, concentrating on well locations judged suitable. The minister did not say how many sites might qualify or when the assessment would finish.

The order matters. Existing data is screened before any new site is chosen. That means the next concrete step Bayraktar described is a desk review of data, not a power plant.

Why Ankara Frames Geothermal as Supply Security

Bayraktar tied the agreement to two national aims: spreading Türkiye's energy supply across more sources and making that supply more secure. He presented this as a hope, saying he expected the step to contribute strongly to both goals.

That is a statement of intent. No capacity target, megawatt figure or delivery date came with it, so there is not yet any measure against which the contribution can be judged.

The setting carries its own message. Signing a geothermal partnership at a climate summit held in Antalya put the deal in front of an international audience before a single well had been assessed.

What could help or hold back the partnership

The bottom line

For now, the TPAO and Baker Hughes partnership is a starting point rather than a project. Its shape depends on three things: what the TPAO and MTA data reveal, which well locations pass the screen, and whether financial terms are ever made public. Until those answers arrive, Bayraktar's hopes for supply security and diversification remain aims without numbers attached.

What to watch

• Watch for disclosure of the deal's financial terms by TPAO, Baker Hughes or the energy ministry; no date has been set.
• Watch for results of the assessment of TPAO and MTA data; no completion date has been given.
• Watch for the first well locations chosen for commercial-scale development; no timetable has been announced.