Türkiye's state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation has signed a joint venture agreement with US oil giants Continental Resources and TransAtlantic Petroleum.

According to Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, Wednesday’s deal includes cooperation on developing Türkiye's unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

"The project, which will be carried out with the most up-to-date environmental and technological practices, will also provide training for the local workforce and technical knowledge transfer," Bayraktar announced on X.

"This cooperation will greatly contribute to our goal of bringing Türkiye's oil and gas resources to our economy,” he said, hopeful that the agreement will benefit all parties.

As "unconventional" oil and gas reservoirs require new and often complex extraction methods, the joint venture heralds a new era for oil exploration in Türkiye.

Continental Resources is one of the largest oil producers in the US, and TransAtlantic Petroleum has been operating in Türkiye for 17 years.

Turkish Petroleum has been expanding its cooperation network as the company collaborated with Azerbaijan, Libya, Somalia and Russia, and the company's CEO Ahmet Turkoglu signaled cooperation with Libya in January.