By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON, March 12 (Reuters) - Turkish national oil company TPAO has signed a joint venture agreement with U.S. oil producer Continental Resources to develop shale fields in the country’s Diyarbakir Basin, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on social media platform X on Wednesday.

“This cooperation will greatly contribute to our goal of bringing Turkiye’s oil and gas resources to our economy. I hope this agreement, which opens a new era in exploration in Turkiye, will be beneficial for all parties," he said in the post.

"With 57 years of exploration experience, we recognize significant opportunities for further development both in the U.S. and internationally. We see immense potential in Turkey's untapped resources and are excited to collaborate with TransAtlantic and Turkey Petroleum to explore and develop unconventional solutions that can unlock their full energy potential,” Continental Resources CEO Doug Lawler said in an emailed statement.

Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm is scheduled to speak at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar; Writing by Liz Hampton
Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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