Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has officially entered Hungary’s upstream oil and gas sector after securing joint exploration rights with Hungarian energy major MOL. The partnership marks a significant expansion for TPAO and a deepening of its strategic collaboration with MOL.
The two companies signed concession agreements with Hungary’s Ministry of Energy, granting them joint hydrocarbon exploration rights in the Tamási and Buzsák blocks, located near the popular Balaton Lake region.
These blocks were awarded following a 2024 tender for six exploration areas, in which MOL won two licenses independently and two others in partnership with TPAO. The new concessions represent the first joint exploration initiative between the companies in Hungary, following their strategic cooperation agreement signed in October 2024.
MOL and TPAO previously collaborated in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oil project offshore Azerbaijan and in Russia’s Baitugan field, but this venture is their first upstream project within the EU.
TPAO Chairman Ahmet Turkoglu described the move as a “vote of confidence in Hungary’s business environment,” while MOL’s CEO Zsolt Hernadi welcomed the partnership as a step toward broader regional collaboration, including potential ventures in the Caspian, Black Sea, North Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe.
MOL, Hungary’s largest oil and gas producer, operates nearly 1,300 wells and in 2024 alone produced approximately 4.4 million barrels of oil and 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas from domestic fields, accounting for 39% of its total output.
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