MOL/Turkish Petroleum to explore hydrocarbons in Hungary
Petchem firm MOL Group and Turkish Petroleum signed the concession agreements with the Ministry of Energy of Hungary, granting rights for joint hydrocarbon exploration in two Hungarian concession areas, Tamási and Buzsák. The joint bidding and the exploration program are the first important steps since the companies signed a strategic partnership agreement last year. MOL and Turkish Petroleum are identifying further joint opportunities in the Caspian region, in the Black Sea area, in North Africa and in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Ministry of Energy of Hungary announced new mining concessions last autumn after a five-year hiatus, citing the need to boost domestic production and reduce import exposures. MOL bid for five concessions and won four of them.
For two concessions, that cover the Kiskőrös and Hatvan area, MOL bid independently, while for the Buzsák and Tamási areas (Southwest Hungary), the company bid jointly with TPOC Ltd, a subsidiary of Turkish Petroleum.
Last October, MOL Group and Turkish Petroleum signed a MoU in Istanbul, in which the two companies expressed their intention to jointly participate in exploration, field development and production projects in the Caspian region, in Türkiye, North Africa and Middle East as well as in Central and Eastern Europe.
MOL Group and Turkish Petroleum have already been cooperating in hydrocarbons exploration and production projects as joint venture partners in Azerbaijan in the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field since 2020, as well as in Russia in the Baitugan field since 2014.
MOL is the largest hydrocarbon producer in Hungary, producing at almost 1,300 oil and natural gas wells. In 2024, MOL provided 47% of crude oil (almost 600,000 tonnes) and nearly 90% of natural gas (nearly 1.5 billion m3) of domestic production. Hungary is the most significant in the MOL Group’s oil and gas production portfolio, currently accounting for approximately 39% of total production.
In 2022, MOL discovered the Vecsés oilfield near the capital, where three wells are already producing. Just recently, MOL discovered the Somogysámson oilfield in South-West Hungary. Over the past years, 24 successful shallow gas wells were drilled, and the company acquired gas fields and related infrastructure in East-Hungary that covers an area of approximately 1,000 km2, with 29 hydrocarbon production wells and further exploration potential.
As part of MOL Group’s international portfolio, the company has oil and gas exploration and production assets in nine countries, with production in eight countries. In 2024, it produced an average of 93,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company has also recently signed cooperation agreements with the national oil company of Kazakhstan (KazMunayGas), the national oil company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), and the national oil company of Türkiye (Turkish Petroleum).
